


Breath

by visi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Reader-Insert, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22336219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/visi/pseuds/visi
Summary: You think that your escape as a secluded witch in the forest would be much more successful if there wasn't another irritable, attractive inhabitant already.
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru/Reader
Comments: 31
Kudos: 187





	1. enchanted forest

* * *

_Thou shalt not turneth thy neighb'r into a frog without good reasoneth._

* * *

Sunlight illuminated the ground of the forest in patches, reaching every single place not shaded by the towering elms and oak trees. Mushrooms, ferns, and wildflowers bloomed haphazardly around the path, unconcerned with any sort of pattern or organization. Underneath your feet, the soil was dark, rich, and so soft that had you not been walking on top of a cobblestone path, you would've sunk at least four inches into the ground. A stream in the distance filled the air with a gentle splashing sound, accompanied with the harmonious calling of various birds.

While the real estate agent was distracted with some legal paperwork, you took the opportunity to press your hand against the bark of a nearby black oak tree. Immediately, an almost electrifying current of magic swept into your palm and brought a discreet smile to your lips. 

This was, without a doubt, an enchanted forest.

The raspy voice of the realtor shook you from your stupor. He flipped noisily through the giant packet in his hands, and nodded once. "Alright, so my previous clients have all really enjoyed the scenery and environment out here. As you can see, very peaceful and uh, nature-esque. You have all the outdoorsy stuff here, like some trees and some uh, some flowers right there."

You couldn't help but wince when he gestured to a patch of moss instead.

"And obviously, you've already seen the cabin so you know it's a very nice abode, yes, very nice. But I do have to warn you that the reason my other clients didn't purchase the house is because..." Here, he leaned in as if to whisper, but didn't lower his voice at all. "There are rumors that the neighbor is a...a _witch_."

Ah. You'd almost forgotten that your realtor had no idea of your _own_ magical ancestry. After posing so long as a human, you were used to these types of reactions to magic now and you pretended to be just as horrified as the realtor was expecting. "Oh, how horrible!" you gasped. "A witch? You really can't go anywhere outside of Tellurium without encountering some kind of magic, can you? What a shame."

Tellurium, of course, was the human-dominated city situated next the capital, around a week's worth of traveling by horse from here. Humans and magical beings had long since ended their thousand year war after the Treaty of Magique, though whether or not they had truly made peace was questionable. Even after two centuries, humans and magical beings remained wary and mistrustful of each other and had resorted to _de facto_ segregation to avoid conflict. You living in Tellurium, despite having magical blood, had certainly been an _unusual_ situation.

"Yes," the realtor confirmed. "That's why I was hesitant to show you this place. Us humans really shouldn't be meddling with these weirder folk. So I've already compiled a list of other places that you might be—"

"No, I like this place," you said firmly, before he could continue. "It's time we stop allowing the presence of a magical being limit our own desires."

The realtor gaped at you disbelievingly. He regained himself after a moment and wiped the shock from his face, replacing it with a barely composed cough. "Right, yes, of course. That makes sense. You really are brave. I'll draw up the paperwork immediately. That's truly the spirit, Miss (Y/N). We shouldn't allow magic to dictate our lives. Absolutely correct. I'll have it all done before the end of the week."

"Good," you said, extending your hand out for him to shake. "I'll see on Saturday then. Have a nice day."

You retracted the excited zips of magic coursing through you before his hand made contact with yours. At long last, you would _finally_ be able to use your magic undisturbed, away from both the suspicious gazes of the human community and the critical eyes of the magic one. Before you could help it, a bolt of giddy energy escaped from your finger and stung the realtor. 

He pulled back immediately and yelped. "What was that?!"

"Sorry. Static electricity is always quite bothersome," you lied, trying to stop the smile that threatened the overtake your features.

* * *

Now that the last of your belongings had been tucked neatly into some cupboard or shelf, you stepped back and admired your handiwork. Moving hadn't been nearly the hassle that your friends had made it out to be. Since the forest was so secluded and far from major human populations, you'd merely enchanted your belongings to move into whatever designated spot you'd set up for them. 

Granted, your spell-casting was rusty after going so long without magic and moving in practically sapped all the energy out of you. You collapsed onto the armchair next to the fireplace and sighed. This kind of limited magical stamina was precisely why you had decided to move into an enchanted forest. If you managed to establish a bond with this forest, your magical energy would increase tenfold.

Your small store of magic wasn't really your fault actually. In scientific terms, you were a _dimidium magus_ —half magic and half human. While your father had been fully human, your mother hailed from a long line of witches (though there were rumors that your cousins had naiad blood). Although your mother's side of the family had remained skeptical of your capabilities as a halfer, they'd insisted on sending you to one of the most elite magic schools in the country, where you'd been allowed to cultivate your magic, or at least, whatever magic you _had_. 

It was in your third to last year of schooling that a teacher had first proposed the idea of enchanted forest bonds to you. By creating that bond, witches were able to unlock the vats of magic energy coursing through the veins of the forest. In your case, you hoped that by doing so, you would at least reach the same level as your full-blooded peers. 

Your eyes fell upon the heavy book resting on the coffee table, _The Witching Hour: Spells for Every Occasion_. Reaching forward, you nabbed it off the table and flipped it open to the only chapter that had been bookmarked.

_**CHAPTER XIV: SOURCES OF MAGIC**  
THE ENCHANTED FOREST - A witch can expand their magical energy and power by establishing a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with enchanted forests of almost any type. The witch must be extremely adept at complex spells and deemed a worthy wielder for the forest to accept the bond. Several conditions apply when attempting to create this bond:_

  * _All magical inhabitants of the forest must consent to the bond._
  * _No more than one bond may be created with a forest at a time._
  * _Should the previous owner of the bond choose to relinquish it or die, the forest immediately becomes available for any other witches to attempt a bond._
  * _BEWARE! Corrupted witches or those are no longer worthy will poison the forest with dark magic for all eternity*._



_*Exclusions apply._

You stared at the very first condition listed and frowned. If all magical inhabitants needed to give you permission to start creating a bond, then that meant your unknown neighbor needed to approve. When you'd first arrived at this place, you'd checked the magical registry and there'd been no pre-existing bond with this forest, so it seemed that whoever this witch was, they weren't concerned with making a bond here.

That meant that you only needed to ask for their consent and you could get to work. Slamming the book shut, you took in a deep breath and exhaled. You could do this! After 20 years of being a so-called "handicapped" halfer, you were finally about to unlock the same magic abilities your peers had been so smug about! 

All you needed was a simple _yes_.

* * *

In your hands sat the key to your success. A freshly-baked apple pie, lightly dusted with cinnamon sugar. Who in their right mind would be unkind to somebody who baked them an apple pie? Walking behind you was your dog, a brown Dachshund named Panini. Together, you two were _obviously_ the ideal neighbors. Would anybody be able to despise a friendly baker and their adorable dog? Of course not. You almost scoffed out loud at the thought of it.

It didn't take long to find your neighbor's cottage. You'd merely followed the path further down the forest hoping that it was in the right direction and you'd evidently been correct. 

"Alright Panini," you said, mentally preparing yourself to do this. "All we gotta do is knock, introduce ourselves, and ask. We can do that!"

Panini barked, as if in agreement. You swallowed down your doubts before they could change your mind and knocked on the door politely.

From inside, you could hear some vague shuffling before the door swung open, nearly smacking you in the face as you leapt back. Once you regained your bearings, you looked up and made eye contact with someone alarmingly familiar.

The apple pie in your hands slipped out of your hands and splattered onto the ground. Your throat went dry as your brain found a name to put to the incredibly attractive, talented, and insanely **_irritating_** witch in front of you—the one fucking person who would reject a friendly neighbor and their adorable dog.

"...Oikawa Tooru?!"


	2. apple pie

* * *

_If you're going to hex them, do it without hex-itation._

* * *

The universe must've hated you.

There wasn't any other logical explanation as to why Oikawa Tooru, your worst nemesis and mortal enemy from high school, happened to be your neighbor. Could your luck be any worse? What were the odds of this even happening? Should you just pack up and move again? Surely there were other enchanted forests out there that you could try.

For now though, you could only gape helplessly at the male, who had apparently retained every bit of his beauty since high school. Your eyes flicked over his naturally glossy hair, perfect complexion, long eyelashes, and sculpted figure with both distaste and envy. His white blouse shirt and black pants looked incredible on him and you hated that. Did the universe have to be so blatant about picking favorites? He didn't deserve to look like a god when he acted like _that_.

"Oh, if it isn't Miss (Y/N) (L/N), everyone's _favorite_ shrimp maestro," Oikawa drawled, referring to that one time in freshman year when you'd accidentally created a cauldron full of shrimp rather than the potion you were supposed to make. 

You narrowed your eyes at him but bit back your tongue. Leave it up to Oikawa to remember something that you'd tried so hard to suppress. Although you would've loved nothing more than to open up all of _his_ humiliating moments from school, you were here to ask a favor and thus, had to play nice. And so, with the biggest smile you could muster, you waved your hand so that the apple pie returned back to your hands in one piece. "Hi, I'm your new neighbor!"

Alas, Oikawa Tooru wasn't _stupid_. Far from it actually, which was one of the reasons why you'd always been kind of bitter towards him; he had the talent and magic abilities that you could only dream of. Oikawa raised an eyebrow and wasted no time beating around the bush. "An apple pie won't convince me to do whatever you're thinking of."

"Yes, but I have apple pie _and_ a dog," you said, scooting to the side so that Panini came into view. "This is Panini."

"What can he do?" Oikawa asked, scrutinizing Panini warily. 

"He knows to pee outdoors and won't pee on anything that you're growing," you said proudly.

Oikawa looked at you like you were the biggest fool to ever materialize on this planet. "No, I mean what can he _do_? If he's your familiar, he has to have some talent."

"Familiar?" You blinked. "Oh no, I don't have a familiar. He's just um...he's just my dog."

"You're a witch and you don't have a familiar?" Oikawa gazed at you incredulously and pointed at Panini. "He doesn't have any sort of connection with you or powers?"

You pursed your lips and told yourself to remain calm. "Well, he's my dog so I assume we have a connection but no, no powers. Just a dog."

His expression was unreadable. You couldn't tell if he was disappointed, frustrated, or angry at you but you knew it probably wasn't anything favorable. Before he could say anything else however, a loud purring noise from behind Oikawa had you almost dropping the apple pie in your hands again.

"That's not a house cat," you said slowly, stepping away from the door as you stared at the massive ocelot rubbing itself affectionately against Oikawa's leg.

"No, it's not," Oikawa confirmed, bending down to stroke the ocelot's ear. "If you're scared, I can send him away. Obviously, you don't have much experience being around actual familiars."

"I'm not scared," you said firmly, even though you definitely were. If this ocelot didn't like you, would it just claw you to death? Did it have the ability to drown you? What if it could summon an army of the undead? What kind of powers did ocelot familiars have, anyway?

Clearly, Oikawa didn't fall for your bluff. "Oh really?" An amused smirk settled onto his face. "Not scared, hm?"

Just as he said this, the ocelot began slowly advancing towards you, its head slightly tilted to the side as if it was examining you. What if you didn't pass this test? What even was this test? Your heart started pounding in your chest as the ocelot continued walking nonchalantly. Beside you, Panini started growling at the oncoming feline, but that did nothing to deter it.

By the time it stood directly in front of you, your knuckles were white from how hard you were clutching the pie in fear. You tried to force yourself to remain calm. Oikawa wouldn't allow this cat to attack you, would he? Was he that cruel? Panini looked ready to attack at a moment's notice but you doubted that he could so much as scratch the larger animal.

"Not scared," you whispered, though your voice was now shaky. "Just a familiar."

"Just a familiar," Oikawa repeated. His expression was no longer amused so much as it was analytical, like he was trying to interpret what your next action would be. Upon realizing that you were most certainly terrified but refusing to back down, he sighed. "Iwa, back down."

Without needing any further urging, the ocelot spun around and disappeared back into the doorway. Your shoulders dropped and you let out the breath you'd been holding. Panini was still on guard, his tiny legs tense prepared to pounce but after a moment passed, he too relaxed.

"Tell me what you're here for," Oikawa said sharply, straightening up. "You're not just trying to be a good neighbor or you would've left already."

 _He was too perceptive_ , you thought to yourself. But he was right. If you really had come here with no ulterior motive, you would've left the instant that you saw Oikawa. There wouldn't be any point in trying to ease him into your request either, since Oikawa would see through it immediately. The only thing you could do was spit it out. "I want to establish a bond with the forest."

This was the thing that finally caused Oikawa to lose his composure. He froze for just a split second but recovered so quickly that you wondered if you'd imagined it. His response was curt. "You can't."

"Wait, wait, wait," you said hurriedly before he decided to slam the door in your face. "At least hear me out."

"Don't need to." Oikawa folded his arms across his chest and you cursed him for looking so good even while he was pissing you off. "Don't bother wasting your time."

As they said, desperate times called for desperate measures. You had to at least let him hear your reasoning. "I'll give you this apple pie if you listen to me for only five minutes. Just...please." 

His eyes flickered back down to the pie in your hands. "Only for listening?"

"All you have to do is listen," you promised, nodding your head. "You can kick me out afterwards too."

Oikawa contemplated this option before relenting. He stepped to the side so that you could enter. "Fine, but you should make milk buns next time if you're this desperate for my attention."

"I'm doing this for me," you huffed, sticking your tongue out at him as you walked through the doorway, Panini trailing close behind. Unsurprisingly, Oikawa's cottage was incredibly tidy. His countertops were completely clear and everything had been tucked neatly away. Gosh, his cabinets were _labeled_. Pretty calligraphy letters indicated what was where and you couldn't help but fume at how perfect he was. It was unfair really.

"You can set the pie down here," Oikawa gestured to a spot on the round, wooden table. He snapped his fingers and you watched as a plate, knife, and fork came flying out the cupboards and landed neatly in front of him. "So why did you stupidly announce that you were trying to bond with the forest?"

"How is it stupid?" you protested. "You already know how much I lack in terms of magical energy and power. I already know the theory and concepts completely. I just need the help of the forest."

Oikawa cut himself a slice of the pie and slid it onto his plate. "That's not something you can fix with a magic bond. And even if it was, you still can't bond with the forest."

"Why?"

He let out a disdainful _tsk_. "Can't you tell? This forest was corrupted a long time ago. It's not listed on the Magical Register because the witch who did it is dead now, but even if I did let you establish a bond, you'd have to be powerful enough to override the corruption curse."

You winced. _Shit_ , a corruption curse? Dropping down the ground, you pressed your palm against the floor and sensed the magical pulse underneath the cottage. The pleasant energy that you'd felt when you'd been checking out the area seeped in first but you dug deeper, trying to locate the corruption that Oikawa mentioned. You closed your eyes and concentrated on the stream of energy going through the forest. Deeper, deeper, _deeper_.

And then you felt it. Immediately, you pulled back and yelped in pain. Against the pure, white energy of the forest, there was a thick stream of dark red magic that zipped through, staining the area around it as well. This was obviously the remnants of whatever witch had bonded with this forest before and lost the title of being worthy by turning to dark magic—corruption as it was called. 

Oikawa grimaced, placing his fork back down on his plate. "See? Even if I were to grant you permission to try to establish the bond with the forest, there's no way you would be able to override the curse in your state."

"At least let me try," you said stubbornly, standing up and brushing off your knees. This bond was the only chance you had to finally, _finally_ compare with your magical peers and you were desperate. 

"You know that if you try to override the curse and fail, you'll die?" Oikawa shook his head. "And as much as I don't like you, dealing with your death would be a hassle."

 _How flattering_. You clenched your fists in frustration. "How can you be so sure that I'll fail?"

"Isn't it obvious? The same reason you barely got passing marks in school," Oikawa stated, giving you an unfazed glance though his tone was filled with scorn. "You're way too **_weak_**."

You knew that too well. You knew how much your human blood limited you. Teachers told your parents that they were scared that you were pushing yourself beyond your limits and it still couldn't match up to the level of your peers. Students whispered about your heritage, saying that it was a pity that you couldn't ever be a true witch. Weak was the reason you'd been rejected from all the magic universities you'd applied for. That's why you wanted—no, that's why you _needed_ this bond. 

"I—"

"You should get going before it's dinnertime," Oikawa interrupted, before you could defend yourself. "I have no intentions of feeding you."

It was an ungracious way of kicking somebody out but you knew it'd be pointless to try to stay any longer. You'd already been pushing your luck by coming inside. "And I have no intentions of letting this go," you countered, although you made your way towards the door anyway. "I _will_ establish the bond if it's the last thing I do."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah. You're going to cut into my beauty routine at this rate. Just go already, dammit."

Oikawa waved his hand and both you and Panini were booted out unceremoniously, like a giant had swept the two of you out the door with a huge broom. Grumbling to yourself, you started back down the path to your house. "He hasn't changed at all from high school, Panini. So stupid and pretty and talented, and he still thinks I'm pathetic. What a jerk."

Panini barked at a nearby squirrel as it ran across the ground but you paid it no mind. Fresh determination rushed into you. Sure, Oikawa Tooru might be stronger and more attractive and more organized but you? 

"I have a cute dog," you announced to no one while Panini started sniffing his butt. "And that means I'll succeed!"

_Bark!_


	3. herb garden

* * *

_Time is very important for a witch, for cauldrons smell when they burn_.

* * *

"Cheating, treachery, fraud?" You gazed at the inside of your tea cup and back to the reference book again, furrowing your eyebrows and frowning. "Really?"

Tea leaf readings held little credibility within the magical world, since most professional diviners used these readings to swindle money out of superstitious humans. You weren't an exception to this rule, since the idea of a clump of leaves in a teacup foretelling the future was sketchy at best. However, you did humor the art occasionally, in the same way your human friends used to read their astrological horoscopes for fun. 

But being told that you were about to be deceived or usurped was still unpleasant nevertheless. Turning the cup left and right, you tried to see if you could make out a different symbol from the leaves but its resemblance to a cat remained uncanny. There was no other symbol or picture that better suited the image. 

_It even has whiskers_ , you thought to yourself. _What was up with that?_

Although you were dissatisfied with the reading, you really weren't too worried about it. Most of these fortune-telling practices fed off of human gullibility and didn't have a single strand of evidence or logical reasoning that could account for their prophecies. You stood up to dump the tea leaves into one of your poppy pots when Panini suddenly started growling at the window.

"Panini?" Confused, you walked over to where Panini was, aggression causing his entire body to tremble. "What's wrong?"

Panini continued glaring intensely at whatever was outside and you took a look too before jumping back in fear. "What the fuck?"

Oikawa's familiar was prowling around your garden, sniffing each of your plants intently. What was the ocelot's name again? You think Oikawa had referred to it as Iwa, or something like that. Despite the window being open, the ocelot hadn't so much as glanced in the direction of you and Panini. Its fur coat shimmered against the sunlight, making you scowl. Leave it to Oikawa to have such a dignified familiar. 

More importantly though, what the hell was it doing in your garden? Familiars had unusual behaviors compared to normal animals, which meant the fact that it was snooping around in your herb garden meant it had a motive. You squinted at the cat suspiciously. "What are you up to?"

Without warning, the ocelot suddenly pounced on one of your foxglove plants and ripped it up from the ground with its teeth, roots and all. Indignation quickly replaced your fear. Your mouth fell open in shock and you hurriedly set your teacup on the table. Panini started rapidly barking as the two of you ran out the door into the back garden but the ocelot had already run off. 

"I'm going to kill him," you muttered darkly. Swinging open the gate of the garden, you and Panini started marching down the path to Oikawa's cottage. Once there, you knocked angrily on the door until it swung open to reveal an unimpressed Oikawa in a pink apron.

"Can I help you?" Oikawa asked, looking annoyed. He held up a wooden spoon in one hand and you could smell the beginnings of a savory soup coming from inside. Your stomach gurgled and Panini was already peering keenly inside, trying to identify the appetizing aroma. But now wasn't the time to think about soup! His familiar had trampled on your plants and therefore, your honor!

"Explain why your familiar stole an entire stalk of my foxgloves!" you demanded, folding your arms over your chest and straightening your posture to prove that you meant business. "You clearly put him up to this!"

"Did he?" Oikawa appeared unperturbed. "Iwa!"

The ocelot in question sauntered up from behind Oikawa, still holding your precious plant in its mouth. Panini stepped forward, as if prepared to take on the ocelot should it turn its attention towards you. Oikawa held out his hand and Iwa dropped the plant into his palm. Surprisingly, the plant was perfectly intact, as if you had been the one carefully harvesting it.

"Sorry," Oikawa said, his apology taking you by surprise. The shock must've shown on your face because he narrowed his eyes at you. "I can admit when I'm in the wrong. Don't act so surprised."

You tried not to be, but to be honest, you'd come here expecting much more of a fight. Some part of you had been positive that Oikawa would jab at your inability to retrieve your plant from the ocelot yourself, but he seemed remarkably cool about the entire ordeal. He handed you the plant and you took it delicately, examining the petals and stem to make sure nothing had been scratched or damaged.

"Why'd your familiar take this, anyway?" you asked, smoothing out a crumpled leaf. "If you didn't know that he'd taken it, then you obviously didn't ask him to."

"Iwa normally goes out into the forest to collect ingredients for me," Oikawa said, scratching the top of Iwa's head affectionately. "He's good at picking out the best plants so yours must've been the nicest ones in the area."

" _Ah_..." That made sense. As an ocelot, Iwa didn't have any sense of property so you knew it was reasonable for him to have taken this from your garden. But didn't that also mean— "Do you not grow your own foxgloves? Why didn't he just take yours?"

Oikawa's eyes widened, like this had just occurred to him as well. Before he could say anything though, you reached the conclusion first.

"Wait, does that mean I grew better foxgloves than you did?" You gasped, absolutely delighted at this realization. "Oh, actually, didn't I always get better marks than you did in Herbology? No wonder."

"Don't get so cocky," he snapped, his pride undoubtedly wounded. "At least I didn't turn the water into grape juice, rather than wine."

"That was one time!" you huffed, chagrin entering your system at the memory. "Don't think I forgot about how Kiyoko Shimizu flat-out ignored you after you asked her out senior year."

Oikawa blanched. "I thought we agreed that making fun of me for that was off-limits!"

You stuck your tongue out at him and he returned the action. "So was the shrimp incident, but you still brought it up yesterday. It was the first thing you said to me in fact."

"Fine. I'll stop talking about the shrimp if you don't mention Kiyoko." Oikawa stuck out his hand for you to shake and you accepted it without hesitation. _That damned cauldron of shrimp gave you nightmares to this day_.

"Anyways, Panini and I will be back on our way. Tell your familiar to stay out of my garden," you said, retracting your hand and placing the stem of the flower into the pocket of your dress. "I'll be fine without helping hands, or erm, paws."

"Get your own familiar then," Oikawa said, apparently unable to resist taunting you one last time before you left. You shot him a quick glare as the door closed before hopping off the doorstep. That damn soup he'd been cooking had made you hungry and based on the whining next to you, Panini shared the same sentiment. You and Panini started back down the path to your house hurriedly, desperate to get something to eat.

"Come on Panini," you called, snapping your fingers so that Panini's attention turned away from the suspiciously tall toadstool next to the path. "Let's go home and I'll make us a delicious lunch, okay?"

And this marked the end of the herb garden fiasco—or so you thought.

* * *

Your foot lazily dragged across the ground, just enough to keep the hammock in motion. The afternoon sun was just warm enough that your skin felt light and refreshed. At this time of day, the overhanging leaves shielded the sunlight from blinding you, resulting in the perfect, relaxing atmosphere. All worries were forgotten as you basked in the serenity of the scene.

With your eyes closed, you listened to the rush of the stream and the rustle of the leaves mingling into each other. You would've fallen asleep, too consumed by the blissful surroundings to stop yourself had it not been for the entrance of Oikawa Tooru in all of his _not_ -relaxing glory.

"Sleeping this early? I didn't know you were an old woman, (Y/N)," he commented, slicing through the dreamy trance you'd been in.

Your eyes fluttered open and you glowered in his direction. "Do you need something?"

He didn't so much as flinch at your harsh tone. Although you didn't like the power imbalance that resulted from you laying down in the hammock while he towered over you, you were too comfortable to move. "Obviously. I don't disturb hags without good reason."

As much as you would've liked to appear unaffected by this insult, there was something about the word hag that just irked you. A _hag_ , really? Not to be egotistical or anything, but you knew for a fact that you were at the very least, _way_ too attractive to be referred to as a hag. "Hey, take that back! Don't discredit the work I put in moisturizing and exfoliating."

Without warning, Oikawa leaned down so that his face was hovering barely seven inches above yours. Your breath hitched in your throat and you instinctively froze at the suddenly close proximity. His eyes flickered over your features, scrutinizing every inch of your skin. You tried to think about anything, _anything_ , but how he looked even prettier up close and how he smelled like fucking _lilacs_ and how his stupid lips always looked so damn soft and plush and how this reminded you vividly of that one kiss—

"Oh, you actually have a skincare routine? I couldn't tell," Oikawa said, smirking as he stood back up. You opened your mouth to defend yourself but Oikawa was already speaking again. "But I don't have time to discuss your pores right now. I need a basket of bay leaves."

"Why?" you asked, curious enough to go through the effort of sitting up. "Don't you have some of your own?"

Oikawa pursed his lips like whatever he was about to say next pained him. "Yes, but I'm making more Fortune Elixir and Iwa won't take mine."

He didn't need to explain any further for you to understand what this meant. A complicated potion like Fortune Elixir would only work well if the ingredients were top quality and Oikawa had already mentioned that Iwa always sought out the best ingredients for Oikawa's potions. If Iwa wasn't taking Oikawa's bay leaves, that was because there were better ones somewhere else, hence why Oikawa was asking you for yours.

You tried not to let this stoke your ego, you really did! But Oikawa Tooru, your ultimate rival, the best witch in your academy was asking for _your_ bay leaves. And gosh, you weren't going to let the chance to make fun of him for it slip away. "Really? I guess that's to be expected. As the _top_ ranking student in our Herbology courses, it's only natural that my bay leaves should be of an exceptional standard and therefore, the most coveted ones in the area."

"Did you forget that I beat you in every other subject? I remember you had to pour hours of work to squeeze into the top five," Oikawa quipped, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't you dare think you can top me in any other subject."

"Yes, but why are we here? Because you need bay leaves and I don't think your excellent marks in Charms will get you any but _my_ exceptional skills in Herbology will." You grinned, sliding off the hammock so that you were standing in front of him. "I charge about six copper coins per basket."

"You do realize we live in a literal forest? What good is money going to do you?" 

"Copper coins are good luck coins! Those are the kinds that you throw into wishing wells," you said, mimicking the action of tossing a coin. "But if you don't want to give me coins, what do I get for you taking my bay leaves?"

Oikawa sighed. "If you give me the ingredients I need, I'll split the elixir with you. You can take a third."

 _This_ was a tempting offer. Fortune Elixir was notorious for being difficult to make and Oikawa—as much as you hated to admit it—was probably one of the only people you knew who could do it well. The potion didn't provide any kind of invincibility but people who drank it were just _luckier_. Solutions seemed to magically appear to people while they were under its effects and people had a higher chance of success on things that they attempted.

Even if you didn't have a clear idea of what you could use it for right now, Fortune Elixir was more than helpful to have on hand. "It's a deal," you declared, sticking out your hand for him to shake. "Tell me what you need and I can bring it over tomorrow morning."

Instead of accepting your handshake, Oikawa pulled a sheet of parchment out from his bag and placed it into your hand. "Bring extra. I don't want to be forced to use anything that's not up to scratch because there isn't enough."

" _I don't want to be forced to use anything that's not up to scratch_ ," you mocked in a high-pitched voice, miffed at the handshake rejection and the implication that _any_ of your plants could be substandard. "My plants will be fine, but can you say the same about your potion-making?"

He smiled and you could practically _feel_ the irritation radiating off of him. "We might be neighbors but I'd watch what you say, or I'll turn your pretty face into a frog, okay?"

"Hey, the number one rule of witchcraft is that _thou shalt not turneth thy neighbor_ —!" 

"Bye (Y/N)," Oikawa interrupted, a wicked smirk on his face as he turned around and started down the path. Before he disappeared though, he turned back just to say, "And I believe I **do** have _good reasoneth_ to turn you into a frog."

"Butthead!" you called after him, too peeved to realize that Oikawa had called you pretty when he'd threatened to turn you into a frog. You brushed past the hammock and stormed back into your house, parchment in hand, prepared to select the finest herbs in your inventory just to show him up. Damn him. Your bay leaves were going to be so crisp that Oikawa would slice his fingers on them, you would make sure of that!

In fact, you were so focused on getting those bay leaves that you failed to notice as wisps of fog circled the fence around your garden menacingly. 

"Aha! Wait until that idiot sees how sweet my blackberries are!"


	4. fortune elixir

* * *

_Most of magic is ruled by emotions, which in turn, makes it quite a fickle thing._

* * *

_His potions cabinet was alphabetized_.

Had this been anyone else, you would've been impressed. Most witches always kept a plentiful stock of various potions to assist them in their respective endeavors, so to alphabetize them would've been a long and tedious process. Not to mention that some potions had been translated from other languages and thus had different spellings as well. To alphabetize a potions cabinet, a witch would have to set a standard spelling, plot the estimated size each potion would take, and devise a method to add new potions to the collection without having to shift the entire system.

But because you were looking at _Oikawa Tooru's_ alphabetized potions cabinet, the feat was no longer remarkable as much as it was _pretentious_. "What if I switched around a few labels just for the hell of it?" you muttered darkly to yourself as you stared at the impeccable order. Your fingers twitched at the temptation. Sure, mixing up this cabinet would be a minor inconvenience at most, but you'd revel nonetheless at the idea of Oikawa's perfect life having at least one flaw—or _more_. 

You could change one, two, three, _seven_ of these labels if you wanted to! Oikawa was still out in the living room, which meant he had no idea what was going on back here and thus, couldn't stop you. What power! With your hands on your hips, you stared down this cabinet triumphantly. Knowing that you were the one in control back here almost made you cackle out loud. 

Before you could even reach your hand out to grab a vial however, a purring noise from behind caused you to jump.

"What in Merlin's—oh, it's you," you said, although you backed away from the ocelot instinctively. Iwa merely ignored you and scratched its back against the doorway. "You have some fantastic timing."

He suddenly stopped and for a moment, you wondered if that was going to be all. Without warning though, Iwa started advancing towards you and you were hit with a strong sense of deja vu as you stood frozen in fear. His yellow eyes locked with your own like he was daring you to move. Once he reached you, his tail curled around your legs and he plopped down onto your feet nonchalantly, as if this was a normal occurrence. 

Your entire body was tense. Were you breathing? You didn't think so but you were too scared to try. What did the ocelot want from you? Would you be clawed to death if you asked Iwa to move? Could Iwa even understand you if you tried to speak?

"(Y/N)? What's taking you so long?" Oikawa asked, as he stepped into view of the doorway. His gaze swept over your frozen figure down to where Iwa was laying comfortably on your feet. "Oh, Iwa?"

 _Help_ , you mouthed, unsure of what else to do.

Luckily, Oikawa didn't seem interested in prolonging your suffering. He snapped his fingers and knelt down. "Iwa, come here."

The ocelot obeyed immediately, standing up and stretching back on its hind legs before walking over to Oikawa. In response, Oikawa patted Iwa's head adoringly. "Iwa, don't be too nice to (Y/N), okay? She's not worthy of your affection."

"Hey, that's just rude," you snapped, despite having been terrified out of your wits just a short moment ago. "I'm definitely worthy."

"Big talk coming from someone who only had to grab an empty vial and couldn't even manage that." He brushed past you to grab the empty vial labeled _Fortune Elixir_ and held it up to your face tauntingly. 

"It's not my fault that your familiar is so intimidating," you grumbled, following Oikawa back out to the living room. In the time you'd spent inside the potions cabinet, Oikawa had already set up a cauldron and arranged the necessary ingredients on a wooden table next to it. _Of course he'd organized the ingredients by the order in which they went in too_ , you thought to yourself bitterly. 

Oikawa set the empty vial next to the basket of parsley. "Actually, about that...did you feed him or something?"

"Iwa? No, I wouldn't dare." You shuddered at the idea. What if you fed him meat and he decided that human flesh was more his thing? Would your flesh even be tasty? 

"Huh." Oikawa's expression was unreadable but he didn't say anything else, opting instead to grab the poker and shift some of the firewood around from underneath the cauldron. Before you could ask him why he wanted to know though, Oikawa was already changing the topic. "Your fennel's flaky by the way."

Your jaw dropped open. "It is _not_. I harvested some of my best fennel plants for you, you ungrateful dunce."

"Oh really? I'd hate to see what your other fennel looks like then." He laughed, a sound that momentarily stunned you. How _dare_ the universe allow somebody with such a horrible personality to have such a pretty laugh? What kind of blatant favoritism was this? This wasn't fair at all!

You grabbed your _perfectly healthy, not flaky at all_ bundle of fennel and used it to smack Oikawa on the head. 

He yelped and clutched the spot where you'd hit him. "What was that for?!"

"Justice," you huffed petulantly. 

* * *

**FORTUNE ELIXIR - _FORTUNAE POTIO_**   
_True to its name, the fortune elixir enhances the chances of its user in any of the endeavors that its user undertakes during the period in which the elixir is in effect. However, the potency of the elixir dictates that a person must take no more than a ladle a week. An overdose on fortune elixir could lead to an inability to access magic energy reserves or death._

"Just a ladle?" you wondered out loud, as you scanned Oikawa's copy of _The Witch's Complete Encyclopedia_. "How long does it stay in effect for?"

"Ten minutes," Oikawa replied from where he was chopping up the lavender. He brushed off the pieces into the cauldron with the blade of his knife. 

"Ah." You pretended to be cool about this information but holy _shit_ , only ten minutes? Both you and Oikawa had already been working on this potion for a solid four hours and only half of the ingredients had gone in. There was something about the work versus benefits ratio that wasn't quite adding but then again, magic was a notoriously finicky thing. At least it didn't have any horrible side effects like extreme flatulence or momentary wombat transformation which happened to be one of the magical hiccup cure's greatest flaws. 

What would you use the ten minutes for? It wasn't nearly enough to finish a poker game so that ruled out going to any casinos and it was banned from most gambling establishments anyway. At most, it was probably enough time to cast a single powerful spell. Maybe it'd be helpful if someone was a _really_ horrible witch with rocky and unpredictable success rates and needed to ensure that a particular spell they were trying would work.

 _Wait, that's me!_ Your face blanched at the realization. With your amount of magic energy, you could perform basic spells just fine but when it came to anything above that level, it was really a roll of the dice. 

_I should've used this during finals week instead of carting around a million good luck charms_ , you mourned silently. _Maybe then my grades wouldn't have dangled so precariously in the hands of fate._

But even if you had figured out something you could use the Fortune Elixir for, why did Oikawa need it? He was perfectly capable of performing consistent, powerful spells so you doubted the idea that he needed it to increase a spell's success rate.

"Hey Oikawa, what would you use the elixir for?" You'd asked out of pure curiosity but immediately after it slipped out, you realized how personal the question really was. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that! I know I'm really just being nosy." 

He bit his lip but luckily, he didn't seem irritated at the question. His face was more...contemplative, for lack of a better way to describe it. Oikawa let out a sigh and let the ladle's handle rest against the edge of the cauldron. "It's just something that doesn't hurt to have around."

It was an acceptable answer but you weren't convinced it was the truth. The label on the vial labeled Fortune Elixir was faded, meaning that he'd been using it for a while, so this hadn't been a spontaneous one time thing. Even so, you decided not to press him any further. It wasn't any of your business anyway, and it wasn't as if you _cared_.

No, that was a lie. This was probably going to keep you up tonight, not knowing why somebody as talented as Oikawa would need Fortune Elixir. You pursed your lips together and mentally willed yourself to stay strong. _You're not going to ask out of politeness! Oikawa might be a jerk but that didn't mean you had to be one! Stay strong, (Y/N)!_

"You don't believe me, do you?" Oikawa accused, taking the ladle and jabbing it in your direction. "Could you at least be more subtle about it?"

"I was trying to be but your reply wasn't convincing at all," you countered grumpily, annoyed that he had seen through you so easily. "Besides, who makes a potion without thinking of even _one_ potential use for it? That's just unheard of."

"Just admit I've always been way more prepared than you ever have, (Y/N). Who was the one who always had to ask to borrow pens for our assignments?" He was smirking at you and _gosh_ , did you really wanted to slap pudding in his face.

"Listen, I always packed my pens but they just vanished when we got to class! I don't even know how to explain it." You sighed, wallowing the loss of all those (admittedly cheap) pens throughout your school career. "But you can't diss me for losing my pens when you always relied on your admirers to make you lunches when we went on school trips rather than making them yourself."

"Doesn't that just prove how popular I am? How is that a bad thing?" Oikawa pouted.

"All the lunches were subpar at best. Just because the rice is in the shape of a heart doesn't compensate for how overcooked the sausage is," you scoffed. "No amount of love in the recipe could make up for how bad it actually was."

"Is that so?" He cocked an eyebrow and smiled cheekily. "You think you could do better?"

"I _know_ I could," you said confidently, refusing to back down from his gaze. 

"Oh really? I'd like to see it then." His tone was challenging and you could already feel the adrenaline pumping inside of you. Was he really going to question your cooking abilities? Even after eating your apple pie? Unbelievable. 

To say you were peeved would've been an understatement. "I'll cook a meal so damn good that your mouth will water just thinking about it and then I won't give you any because you're a butt."

"Hey! How am I supposed to know if it's any good then?" Oikawa protested, his face falling at your reply.

"Figure it out." You let out a _hmph_. "Besides, you should be worrying about the potion anyway."

"It's ready," Oikawa said plainly. "I already put in the rest of the ingredients and it's done simmering."

"Why didn't you just say so then?" Miffed, you threw a clump of sage at him. "We've been here for so long."

He dodged the sage and frowned. "Hey, I want you out of here too. Just give me one of those empty bottles over there and we can get this over with."

You obliged, already thinking about how you were going to take a nap the instant you got home. This morning, you'd woken up early to harvest the ingredients and you didn't have nearly enough sleep in your system to be here. 

"Here, it's your share," Oikawa said, holding the corked bottle out in front of you. "Now leave before the hut starts smelling of hag." 

"I smell _lovely_ , thank you very much."

"Mhm, sure." Oikawa started twirling his fingers and swirls of magical energy looped around his hand. He then snapped them and the door of the home flung open. Your entire body moved towards the exit as if something was pushing you from behind. "Out, out, out."

"Is that how you treat your guests?" you muttered bitterly, though you heeded this command and began walking on your own. Before you stepped outside though, you glanced curiously at the thick fog that seemed to have settled on top of the porch. "Fog at this time?"

"Fog?" Oikawa echoed, walking towards the door. His eyes widened upon seeing the obscured scenery and immediately yanked you back into the house. You stumbled backwards into his chest but he instinctively caught you around the waist before you fell.

"Oikawa, is something wrong?" 

"Don't go outside," Oikawa said, his voice becoming deadly serious compared to the whining from before. "The fog's the manifestation of the forest's magic corruption."

 _Oh_. You knelt on the floor and brushed your hand against the fog outside. The effect was instant. Your very essence felt like it was being seeped out through your hand, like your magic energy was dissipating into the fog. The fog wouldn't be able to cross the threshold of any magical dwelling, so both yours and Oikawa's house were safe. "How long does the fog usually last?"

"A day."

Both you and Oikawa seemed to reach the obvious conclusion at the same time. The two of you slowly turned to look at the other, disbelief written all over both of your faces. _If the fog didn't disappear soon, you wouldn't be able to go home_.

It was you that ended up speaking first. "If I walk fast enough, I won't die before getting back to my house."

"Are you stupid or are you stupid?" Oikawa flicked the top of your head. "Don't you remember how I said it'd be inconvenient if you died? Everyone would be haggling me for the details since I'm the only other person in the area."

"That's such a lame reason to not want someone to die." You clucked your tongue. "But I don't trust you not to hex me in my sleep if I stay here overnight. I'll wake up with warts all over my body."

"I would never. I'm not risking contagion. As much as we both don't like the idea, you're going to have to sleep over tonight," Oikawa said firmly, closing the front door. "You're not powerful enough to override the corruption so you'll just die out there."

To be fair, Oikawa had a point. It'd be stupid to prance off in this fog, especially since your magical energy was directly connected to your lifeline. If your magic energy was permanently sapped, you would die. There wasn't any kind of shield that you could use to protect against a magical corruption, especially not one that'd bonded with a forest of this size. And as much as you hated to admit it, Oikawa was probably right. Big, complicated spells had never been your friend and spontaneously attempting one just so you could go home would go horribly. 

It looked like you both were just going to have to tough this one out.

"Fine," you relented, folding your arms over your chest. "I guess we don't really have a choice anyway."

Oikawa sighed dramatically. "Now it'll take me a week to get rid of the hag stench."

"Hey!"


	5. fizzy water

_A witch should remain aware of both their limits and what lies beyond them._

* * *

Around you, the entire house had taken on a warm, golden glow as the sun started its descent down the horizon. Refracted light illuminated the surface of the wooden floor, dancing back and forth as you swirled the fizzy water in your glass absentmindedly. A long sigh escaped your lips as you stared the stack of blocks before you, gaping holes in the structure indicating just how risky any of your next moves would be. 

"Give up?" teased Oikawa from the other side of the wooden tower. He had his chin propped up on his elbow, triumphant smile on his face, and his own glass of fizzy water resting on the floor next to him. This game of _Jenga_ had been going on for a solid twenty minutes now, and neither of you were willing to accept defeat. 

You stuck your tongue out at him. "In your dreams." To prove your point, you flicked the single block at the very bottom of the tower confidently so that it went shooting out and the entire tower plopped down onto the ground, wobbly, but intact. "Ha! Beat that, loser! That's bottom row shooting, baby!"

"That phrase doesn't even make sense!" Oikawa whined, jutting out his lower lip ever-so-slightly. "It was a lucky shot."

"Hey, you were the one who insisted on playing by house rules. Drink up." A cheeky grin spread across your own features. Sure, you admitted that flicking out a block from the very bottom had 100% been a fluke but Oikawa didn't need to know that. Nope, not at all.

The male huffed but stayed true to his word, raising his glass and taking a sip. Both of you had agreed to the rules when you first started the game. Any block successfully taken from the tower meant that the other person had to take a sip and if somebody were to knock over the tower and lose, they had to finish off their glass. When Oikawa had suggested using fizzy water, you'd agreed immediately for several reasons. One, you were way too competitive to even _dream_ of saying no _._ Two, fizzy water was expensive and this was probably one of the only chances you were going to be able to drink it for free. And three, as Oikawa had so eloquently put it: neither of you were going to make it through this night sober.

But with that _stunning_ _move that was totally not a fluke at all_ , it was now Oikawa's turn to carefully examine the tower. At this point in the game, any block that you tried to remove would be a gamble. If Oikawa miraculously managed to take out a block here, you weren't sure you could win your turn afterwards. 

Therefore, the logical next step was to goad him into losing. Obviously.

"What's taking so long, Oikawa? Are you that scared of losing?" To be honest, _you_ were definitely scared of losing. Fizzy water was notorious for taking a long time to kick in, which led its consumers to drink more, under the impression that they hadn't had enough. This was your third game, each of you having already lost once, and you were pretty sure that if you lost again, you'd both never hear the end of it _and_ probably die of alcohol poisoning.

Losing was not an option.

"You know, staring at the tower won't make any of the blocks magically loosen," you said, tilting your head innocently to the side. In response, Oikawa narrowed his eyes at you and immediately flicked out another one of the bottom blocks so that it went shooting out cleanly from the tower.

Your jaw dropped open in shock. Did that just happen? How had the move been so clean? Why had he been so nonchalant about removing a block from the very bottom of the tower at this point in the game?

"(Y/N), you were saying?" Even after this much alcohol, Oikawa's complexion was still pristine. Basked in the radiance of the evening sun, Oikawa looked nothing short of ethereal, despite how he smiled at you wickedly.

Gosh, this was so unfair! You were sure that your face must've taken on an unflattering red hue by now, and you certainly weren't nearly as cool or collected as he was, seeing as it was now your turn to go. As you raised the glass to your lips, you eyed the rest of the liquid warily. With this sip, you'd still have half the glass remaining so if you lost, you'd be stuck drinking a substantial amount of fizzy water.

Then again, if you somehow managed to pass this turn, there was absolutely no way that Oikawa would be able to remove anything else. Surely the universe wouldn't allow somebody to get lucky so many times! Oikawa had already been blessed with silky hair, long lashes, plush lips, and overwhelming skill so the universe _had_ to let you win this one Jenga match against him. 

With bated breath, you chose a safer block towards the middle, closed your eyes, and flicked.

Evidently, the universe refused to toss you so much as a crumb. Since you'd closed your eyes, you heard your defeat before you saw it—the soul-destroying sound of the Jenga blocks crashing onto the floor.

When you opened your eyes, Oikawa was already laughing at you victoriously. While you muttered bitterly about how the universe was so blatant about taking favorites, Oikawa collected himself long enough to say, "Only cowards would back out of their promises, right?"

You sure as hell weren't a coward, so you took up your glass and downed the rest of the fizzy water in one go. Once you'd finished, you set the glass down on the floor and glared at him. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you registered the buzzing sensation throughout your body that meant the fizzy water had finally kicked in, but it was soon forgotten as Oikawa asked, "Should we play checkers now?"

"Sure," you agreed without hesitation, wanting a chance at redemption. "I'm going to crush you."

Oikawa brushed aside the fallen remains of the _Jenga_ tower and leaned in so close that you could feel his breath against the apples of you cheeks. "Just try it."

You blamed the way your cheeks flushed and your heart rate quickened on the fizzy water. "I will."

* * *

"Okay," Oikawa announced, laying the comforter down on the floor with a flourish. "Since you're a hag, you'll take the floor. I'll be on the bed because I have an image to protect." He waved a hand over his face to emphasize the word _image_. 

"It's normal for me to sleep on the floor since this is your house, but what kind of reasoning is that?" you protested, tossing a pillow from the bed in his general direction. However, your aim was so terrible that Oikawa barely batted an eye as it flew past him and onto the bed. 

"Sorry, I don't make the rules," Oikawa declared, placing his hands on his hips. You grabbed the pillow back from the bed and stared up at him in annoyance. Outwardly, Oikawa presented no signs of having drank alcohol besides his slightly disheveled hair and an incredibly faint rose dusting across his cheeks; the only indication you had of how much fizzy water he'd consumed was the way he'd seemed to have grown exponentially more _irritating_. 

"This is your house," you huffed, plopping down onto the comforter and hugging the pillow to your chest. "You literally just made the rules."

Oikawa stepped over towards you and squatted down so that the both of you were at eye-level with each other. Before you could ask him what he was doing, he pinched your cheek hard enough for you to wince. "Aw, don't think too hard about it, (Y/N). You're drunk."

"You're drunk too." 

"Hm, I'm better at pretending I'm not." He stood back up and flicked his hand so that a blanket came shooting out of the cabinet across the room and dropped on your head. 

When you pulled it off, you caught a faint whiff of lavender coming from the blanket. _It must've been freshly washed_. Smoothing down your flyaway hairs, you glanced over at Oikawa, who was already crawling into his own bed and dimming the light of the fire by muttering a soft incantation.

It was Oikawa who'd actually insisted that you sleep in his room. Something about only having the energy to keep a fire going in his bedroom and not wanting to deal with you contracting hypothermia. Even though you'd tried to tell him that you'd be fine (you could manage a basic warmth spell anyway), he'd pulled the "my house, my rules" card and there wasn't much you could do to protest against that.

Actually, come to think of it, Oikawa had been a bewilderingly good host. The both of you had made dinner and once you finished prepping the ingredients, he'd taken over and told you to wait at the table (though he did say it was because he didn't trust you to not burn down the house). He'd also given you a freshly washed blanket and admittedly plush pillow to sleep on (disregarding the fact that he'd literally plopped them on top of you). 

"Hey, Oikawa?"

He sat up and you could just barely make out his silhouette in this dimmed lighting. "Something wrong?"

"No. I just wanted to say thanks."

Oikawa let out a small chuckle. "You get weirdly sentimental when you're drunk, (Y/N)."

"Shut up," you said, though there was no bite to the statement. A tiny smile danced on your lips too. "I'm being serious here. It was nice of you to do all this for me."

"It's part of my charity work for hags." He paused, like he was contemplating something before continuing. "But you're welcome."

And normally, you would've just left it at that and gone to bed. But something was making you feel a little bit braver tonight. Probably the fizzy water—no, _definitely_ the fizzy water. Either ways, the question slid easily from your lips. "Why'd you move here?"

Luckily, Oikawa decided to humor you instead of forcing you to go to sleep. Maybe the fizzy water was getting to him too. "Here? Like the forest?"

"Mhm."

You could hear him flop back onto the bed and release a sigh. "You weren't the only one looking for something here."

"Right. Enchanted forests are probably the only place that have your skincare ingredients, huh?"

His ensuing laugh sounded genuine. "Witch hazel is actually fantastic for your skin. You should try it."

But you weren't about to allow him to switch topics so easily and the fizzy water had given you an alarming amount of courage. This question had been bothering you for a while. Oikawa wouldn't have purposefully moved into the forest without a motive, especially not when he thrived around other people. And based on his reaction to you wanting to bond with the forest earlier, he clearly wasn't planning on trying. "What were you looking for?"

Oikawa went quiet and for a moment, you thought he wasn't going to answer. However, it appeared that the fizzy water had loosened him up too. "As part of the Merlin's Scholars, I'm supposed to be doing something great. Discover something amazing or write up a life-changing theorem. Thought moving here would increase my chances of doing it. Maybe I was just trying to escape."

At the last part, his tone turned bitter, like he was physically disgusted with himself.

"You weren't," you said confidently. "I think you're a jerk and you're super pretentious but you stick with things. Besides, even if you don't end up doing something astounding, who cares? Just because you have talent doesn't mean you owe the universe anything."

A comfortable silence settled between the two of you. Oikawa seemed to be lost in his thoughts and you were busy admiring what you'd just said. _That's the coolest thing that's come out of my mouth all year._

"Did you move here because you wanted to bond with the forest then?" Oikawa asked suddenly, breaking the silence. 

"Kind of," you replied truthfully. "But I don't think that was the only reason."

"Was it because you're a _dimidium magus_?"

Now this caused you to halt. How had Oikawa managed to guess it so easily? Then again, you probably shouldn't have been too surprised. He'd always been terrifyingly good at reading people. "Probably. Living in an enchanted forest might've just been me trying to prove to myself that I do have magical heritage. But also the soil here is also super good for growing things so maybe I'm just reading too far into it."

"So bonding with the forest was your key to being fully magical?" 

"Something like that, yeah."

"Hmph, that's stupid."

It was the sheer bluntness of this statement that caught you off guard. "What?"

"If you can do magic, you're inherently magical. Even if you suck at magic, there's still magic that runs in you and that makes you a magical being. You don't have to prove it to yourself or anyone else."

Warmth shot through your body upon hearing this. "Y'know, you get a lot nicer when you're drunk, Oikawa."

"I'm always a good person!" he protested. There was no more time for him to elaborate nor for you to dwell any more on what he'd said because Iwa abruptly let out a loud _mreow_ from the doorway. 

Immediately, you scrambled up into a sitting position and crawled backwards away from the ocelot. Why did Oikawa have to have such a terrifying familiar? How were you supposed to sleep knowing that Iwa could definitely slice you to pieces in the middle of the night if he chose to?

"Where have you been, Iwa?" asked Oikawa, flipping over on his stomach so he could look at the ocelot. He snapped his fingers and Iwa bounded over to him, letting out a content _purr_ as Oikawa scratched the back of Iwa's ears. "Were you avoiding the hag in the house?"

"I'm insulted but also, I do kind of hope that's true," you said, scooting further away from the ocelot, despite its attention being occupied by Oikawa. "Does Iwa usually sleep here?"

At the sound of its name, Iwa turned his head towards you and your eyes widened at your mistake. _Ah crap_. 

"Iwa's nocturnal, so he mostly doesn't sleep at night. He does get up and about during the daytime though," Oikawa explained. Iwa slipped out of Oikawa's hand and started prowling towards you. Oikawa pouted at this behavior. "Iwa!"

The ocelot paid Oikawa no mind, continuing on its path to devour you alive. This was it. You were done for. You would be clawed to death by this unreasonably large cat and then your poor plants would die and Panini would be stuck wondering what happened to you for all eternity. As the ocelot neared, you held your breath, wondering if it was too late to play dead. Could Iwa hear how fast your heart was pounding? Why was Iwa pausing?

Before you knew it, Iwa had settled down on your lap and was purring blissfully. His fur brushed against your hand and you sat perfectly still, stunned at how soft it was. Cautiously, you brought your hand up to Iwa's head and started scratching him behind his ear. Iwa nuzzled his head against your palm and relief flooded through your body.

Evidently, tonight was _not_ the night that you were going to be torn to shreds.

"Iwa," Oikawa whined. "Come back here."

Again, Oikawa was completely ignored. You tried to fight back the smile threatening to burst across your face, scared that Iwa would sense it and then decide to eat you out of loyalty. 

"Does Iwa usually just wander around outside?" you asked, out of pure curiosity.

"Yeah. He's a familiar so he has heightened senses and he'll always manage to find his way back no matter where he is. He knows not to go outside when the fog is here though."

"Ah."

"Does your dog know not to leave the house?" Oikawa propped up his chins on his elbows and looked directly at you. You pretended like you didn't feel your cheeks heat up under such an intense gaze.

"Panini doesn't ever go outside the house boundaries unless I'm with him," you said. "I'd be worried about him otherwise."

"Even if he's not a familiar, does he have any magical abilities?"

"No, Panini's just a really cute dog." 

Oikawa clicked his tongue and rolled over onto his back. "Boring."

"I'll have you know Panini served as spectacular eye candy back at my flower shop in Tellurium." You puffed out your chest proudly. "The cutest face on the block."

"You lost to a _dog_?"

"Panini's a cute dog! I wholeheartedly accept my defeat," you said, as Iwa moved off your lap and opted to instead settle in at the foot of your comforter. You took the opportunity to snuggle back into the blanket. "Besides, I'm fine with not taking first place in the attractive category when my comedy skills are absolutely _superb_."

"Really? You're pretty." His voice was so nonchalant that you wondered if you'd misheard. "But you're a hag so that negates any positive qualities you have."

No, you definitely hadn't misheard. He'd called you pretty. And well yes, he'd also called you a hag but the most important thing was that Oikawa had admitted that you were pretty and damn, if you weren't going to use this against him for the rest of his life. You couldn't stop the smile that spread across your face even if you'd tried. "You think I'm pretty?"

He let out a sharp _tsk_. "You're going to be annoying about it so I take it back."

"It doesn't matter if you take it back because you said it. _You_ think I'm pretty." Gosh, you felt giddy. Partly because of the alcohol but also because this might've been the first time in years since Oikawa had complimented you. 

"I'm going to sleep," Oikawa declared, turning over in the bed. "I hope you have a terrible nightmare."

But you weren't done yet. If tonight was the night where apparently, the both of you were revealing your deepest secrets, you still had one last confession to make. "If it helps...I think you deserve to achieve something great."

His voice was softer this time. "Good night, (Y/N)."

It was easy to confess things when you wouldn't remember them in the morning.


	6. train station

* * *

_Nothing is ever truly destroyed in a universe that's constantly changing._

* * *

_This was devastating_.

Half an hour of squeezing, pinching, and cutting open the bottle and the only portion of your moisturizing cream that remained was the small glob on your finger that would cover about 3 square centimeters of your face at most. A quick rifling session through your cabinets earlier had confirmed that this was your last bottle too. There wasn't any spells that could magically multiply anything (something about adhering to the Law of Conservation of Mass), so the only remaining moisturizer in your entire house was sitting on your finger.

Staring at it wasn't going to make more magically appear, so with a heavy heart, you started applying the last of it onto your cheeks. As expected, the coverage area was about the size of the size of a small bronze coin, not nearly enough for you to have successfully completed your face routine.

 _Then again_ , you slumped down so that your head touched the counter of the vanity. _It is my fault for not buying more ahead of time_.

In all fairness though, the moisturizer you used was from a brand called _Wanda's Mesmerizing Moisturizer!_ that they only sold back at the magical capital, Argonis. Since Argonis was almost two hours by magical train from Tellurium, where you'd previously lived, it'd been hard to find enough time to make the trip back and forth, especially with how busy your flower shop could get. Whenever you desperately needed something, you'd usually ask your sprite friend, Sugawara, to buy it for you during his monthly trips back and forth. 

It was probably for the best though, since you were never good at haggling for lower prices. Just thinking about having to argue with a siren over the cost of frankincense resin was making your heart race. _Really, why did magical beings have to be so terrifying when it came to trading?_ At least in Tellurium, human customs mandated having set prices so you didn't have to worry about being caught up on the current market values.

But since you didn't have Sugawara here to help you out and Argonis didn't make deliveries outside of their own city, it looked like you were going to have to put on your big girl britches and buy that moisturizer yourself! 

"I can do this," you told yourself confidently in the mirror. You stood up on your tiptoes and folded your arms over your chest in your best effort to look confident and self-assured. "Vendors will not think I'm easy prey because I have an intimidating demeanor. So intimidating in fact, that they'll offer me their wares for free."

After a few more moments of making direct eye contact with your reflection, you stepped backwards and dropped onto your bed with a dramatic _flop_. "It's no good. I'm probably going to have to pay five times the price because I'm such an easy victim."

Maybe bringing Panini would help? No, the combination of both you and Panini would practically scream "very cute, please swindle." Evidently, this was going to have to be a solo quest. You, (Y/N) (L/N), versus the _really_ scary siren vendors, known for being able to talk to the social security numbers out of non-magic folk. 

Okay, this was _fine_! Everything was perfectly dandy, completely _swell_. For one, you didn't even _have_ a social security number, so good luck getting that one sirens. And two, you could also make an excellent apple pie which wasn't actually relevant to the situation but at this point, you needed all the confidence you could get. With a deep inhale, you grabbed your purse from the rack, waved goodbye to Panini, and walked out the door.

Outside, petals from the flower trees above floated down enchantingly. The blades of grass softly tickled your feet through your sandals and you paused for a moment, enthralled by the scene in front of you. Sunlight shone down brightly through the tree tops and illuminated the cobblestone path. During this time of the year, the wildflowers were just beginning to bloom from beyond your front garden. You gazed at the view, warmth entering your heart at just the sight. If the universe could produce this kind of sight, _surely_ you could buy moisturizer. 

"I'm smart, beautiful, and intimidating and I _can_ buy moisturizer," you declared, placing your hands on your hips. "Even the most powerful of magical beings will tremble before my might."

"Oh really? I'm not feeling it." 

_Gosh, him again?_ You looked towards the right to see Oikawa leaning over your garden fence, donning an amused smirk. "I'll have you know I'm _very_ intimidating actually. No magical vendor would dare to try to scam me."

"Mm, the white shirt and overall shorts really solidifies that statement, doesn't it?" His eyes flickered over your figure and back up, finishing his examination with a raised eyebrow.

You had to admit, he had a point. Despite how desperately you had combed through your closet, this was the most intimidating outfit you'd managed to come up with. But denim could be scary, right? There _had_ to be someone who thought denim was equivalent to a strong, infallible presence. Subconsciously, you adjusted the hem of your shorts and forced yourself to stand up straighter. "My aura's scary! I'm currently emanating extremely terrifying vibes."

He pursed his lips, like he was trying really, _really_ hard not to laugh. You tried to pretend that this wasn't a horribly devastating blow to your confidence although it definitely was. "(Y/N), I don't think you could startle a warlock."

Not even a _warlock_? What kind of slander was this? It was common knowledge (among witches at least) that warlocks were by far the inferior magical line and to say that you couldn't even startle a warlock was a horrendous insult. Anger fueling your body, you marched over to where Oikawa was still standing against your fence. "And you're saying that you could do any better?"

Oikawa leaned in so close that you could feel his breath fan your cheeks. "I wouldn't lose to a warlock, that's for sure."

"And what makes you think that I would?" There were goosebumps rising up your arms because of the close proximity but it was easy to ignore them when you were this riled up. 

"You have sunflowers embroidered on your sleeves." 

_Crap, he was right_. Your hand flew to the sleeve of your shirt, and you brushed your thumb over the embroidery. "They're cute!" you protested. "It doesn't automatically mean I'd lose to a warlock."

"But they're not intimidating," Oikawa pointed out, standing back up. You were practically seething at this point but Oikawa's entertained expression hadn't faltered for a second. "What's with the sudden need to be scary though, hm? Trying to repel a few squirrels?"

"I'm going to Argonis and I can't risk being any vendors sucking the money out of my pocket," you admitted, your shoulders drooping at the thought. "It's been a while since I haggled for anything and it's not like I was ever particularly talented at it either."

"Oh?" His face morphed into something more thoughtful, like he was contemplating something. "When was the last time you went to Argonis?"

"Ah, it's been a while..." Your voice trailed off as you tried to rack your brain for the last time you'd ventured to the magical capital. "Maybe three years?"

"Three years?" He drummed his fingers against the top of the fence. "You've been living in Tellurium for the past few years too, right?"

"Mhm," you confirmed, although you failed to see where he was going with this. "Why do you ask?"

Oikawa let out a long sigh and shook his head slowly. "So you're going to Argonis by yourself after not having been in contact with the magical world in years?"

To be fair, you'd already acknowledged that it hadn't been the most ideal of plans but when he put it like that, you couldn't help but grimace. Magical evolution happened as rapidly as human technology advanced, so three years was an _incredibly_ long time to be away. Maybe you should try asking one of your magical friends to see if they'd have time to accompany you to—

"Wait here," Oikawa commanded, turning around and heading down the direction of his own house. You stared at his retreating figure in confusion.

"What? Oikawa! Oikawa!" you called after him. As expected, he didn't so much as look back over his shoulder at you. Frustrated, you huffed and muttered bitterly about Oikawa being an incorrigible goblin. What was he up to? You adjusted the purse strap on your shoulder. Never mind him, you supposed. The journey to Argonis took nearly 45 minutes by magical train and you wanted to get there before the afternoon which was when the markets would be flooded with people. 

After the Treaty of Magique, all train stations in both magical and non-magical lands had been required to run stops to Tellurium and Argonis, regardless of their location. Luckily for you, there was a train station on the outskirts of the forest, a rather poor financial decision given that the inhabitants in the area came up to a grand total of _two_ , but you appreciated how convenient it was anyway. 

If you recalled correctly, the train station should be west of where your home was, something your realtor had mentioned when you first moved in. Now the question was...which way was west again? Stepping out of your garden, you looked up at the sky and tried to remember which direction the sun had come up. Unfortunately, you were rarely up early enough for the sunrise and even if you had been, the tall forest trees blocked most of the view. 

"Ah. I should buy a compass while I'm in Argonis," you mused, making a mental note to yourself. You spun around, hoping to find some unique rock or tree crevice that would somehow jog your memory but to no avail. "The previous witch who bonded with this forest corrupted it but couldn't be bothered to hang up even _one_ sign? Really?"

"I didn't think you'd actually wait," Oikawa commented from behind you. Startled, you accidentally zapped a patch of moss on the ground so that it turned a vivid shade of blue before turning around. Oikawa had changed clothes so that he was now wearing a white men's blouse, tucked loosely into tight, black pants which he had paired with laced boots. In addition to this, Oikawa was carrying a brown, leather satchel with the Merlin's Scholars' logo emblazoned on the corner. 

How could one person look so effortless? Oikawa was dressed like he was going to a photoshoot for the cover of a magazine. 

"I wasn't waiting for you," you retorted, folding your arms over your chest. "I just didn't know where the train station was."

His ensuing laugh was so unexpected that your heart skipped a beat, or that's what you told yourself. "(Y/N), just admit that you wanted to see me again."

"I didn't though!" you said hotly, your cheeks aflame. "Are you planning to come to Argonis with me? Why are you all dressed up?"

Oikawa smiled cheekily. "Consider me accompanying you as charity work. If I don't come with you, you'll be eaten alive within an hour."

"I would _not_. I'm perfectly fine going to Argonis by myself, thank you very much." As much as your conscience was telling you to refrain from asking questions and just accept the offer, your pride was a much greater force. "Actually, why were you even here in the first place?"

"The only thing I had planned for today was a walk around the forest but I actually need some supplies from Argonis too," he explained, raking a hand through his hair. You watched enviously as all of his locks of hair fell perfectly back into place. _This was so unfair_. "Besides, you can't even make it to the train station by yourself. Not going with you would be like stranding a really ugly dog on the side of the road. Nobody would be able to sleep with that hanging over them."

You would've liked to defend yourself but he was right. You hadn't even made it to the train station so you could only speculate what kind of disasters awaited you if you went to Argonis alone. Granted, he probably could've been nicer in his delivery but you didn't expect anything less from him at this point. At last, you relented. "Alright, where's the station?"

"Down the path, like most people would've been able to guess, (Y/N)," Oikawa said, pointing towards your left. The smile on his face gave away the fact that he was _definitely_ enjoying teasing you like this. 

_Don't hex him, don't hex him, don't hex him_ , you chanted internally. Instead, you forced yourself to return the smile. "Sorry, I must've been distracted by how I beat you on the Herbology final senior year by _eight_ whole points."

"She promised mugworts wouldn't be on the exam!" Oikawa openly pouted at the memory. "How was I supposed to know?"

"Ah, you're right. I guess I should lower my expectations for you," you said, pressing a hand to your chest and shaking your head. "I know it must be hard not being able to water mugworts properly. The physical toll is so clear that I can only imagine the mental toll it's taking on you."

"Physical toll?" His jaw dropped open at such an accusation. "There's no physical toll. My skin's fantastic, (Y/N)!"

It was, but you weren't going to give him the satisfaction of agreeing with his statement. "Hmm, are we sure about that? Just because it's clear doesn't mean it's soft."

Before you could register what was happening, Oikawa had grabbed your hand and pressed your palm to his cheek. "It is soft!"

Your eyes widened. _Damn, it really was soft_. In fact, Oikawa's skin was so soft that you couldn't find it in yourself to snap back with some witty remark. But when you realized that you were still cupping his cheek, you quickly retracted your hand and swallowed down the uncomfortable mix of emotions in your chest that had bubbled up at the contact. _That was weird_.

At your speechlessness, Oikawa smiled proudly. "See? Even nymphs have asked me for my skincare routine."

Would it be admitting defeat if you did too? You stuck your tongue out at him childishly instead, deciding that your own routine was fine. Besides, a part of you suspected that you would never be able to afford the kind of products that Oikawa used on his skin. "Is the train station much farther from here?"

"It's right there actually," Oikawa said, pointing just in front of the two of you. Right at the edge of the forest boundary was a single bench and sign planted next to a set of train tracks. Other than that, the rest of the area was a peaceful grass meadow. Had there been no path leading towards this place, there would've been no indication that the station existed. 

"Ah. I guess it's functional." This set-up reminded you of those minimalism documentaries you'd watched back in Tellurium. But then again, you supposed that it made sense for a station that was catering to a population of two. At the very least, they'd provided a bench, so it could've been worse.

Both you and Oikawa made your way to the sign to check for the next train. One glance at the sign told you that this train station only carried people to either Argonis or Tellurium, alternating between the two with ten minute intervals between each train. 

"The schedule says the train should be here right about... _now_ ," Oikawa said, checking the watch on his wrist.

"Now?" You looked at the empty tracks doubtfully but before you could say anything else, a sudden cloud of dust appeared, causing you to shut your eyes. When you opened them again, the cloud had vanished and the train doors hissed open before you.

Oikawa winked at you as if to say _I told you so_. "Now."

"Anyone with a watch would've known that," you grumbled quietly to yourself, following Oikawa onto the train. "It's a magical train, of course there wouldn't been too many delays."

There was only one train car but this was normal, considering that trains that ran on magic energy lines didn't require engines or conductors, and thus, cars could be split or combined freely. No one else was in the car so you and Oikawa did what all ex-school rivals turned begrudging neighbors would do, which was take seats across from the other and proceed to engage in an intense game of Hand Chopsticks. 

It was during your fourth game—Oikawa with two wins and you with one—that the train started rolling to a stop. Both of you paused and looked out of the train windows, where the towering Argonis skyline monopolized the scenery. Sensing the vast amounts of magic energy around you, your hands subconsciously released excited gold sparks. Oikawa's body had picked up on the multitude of magic currents too, since his own hands had taken on a hazy blue glow.

You flexed your fingers, reveling in the magical stimulation that came from just being near so many other magical beings. Gosh, you'd missed this. As the train doors opened, you and Oikawa stepped out onto the train platform, which was already swarming with people. You fixed the strap of your purse and admired your surroundings fondly.

 _Argonis, the magic capital_.

"(Y/N), I know you must be emotionally devastated after losing Chopsticks, but the day market won't be open forever," Oikawa said, his voice cutting cleanly through your moment of awe.

"That last game wasn't even finished!" you objected, puffing your cheeks out in indignation. "If the train had stopped just a minute later, it would've been a tie."

"Spoken just like a loser," he said, smiling and shaking his head.

Damn, you really hoped his stupidly soft skin magically dried up. He’d deserve it.


	7. magic capital

* * *

_Because magical is not a quantifiable energy, it can be reproduced at will._

* * *

In theory, Argonis' street market was supposed to be one of the most magical places in the world. And yes, this was meant in the literal sense, given that there was a huge abundance of magical energy running rampant through the area, but it was also meant metaphorically. Since Argonis's street market was comprised of almost every type of magical being in the world, the diversity and unique character of the area alone was intended to be a testament to the ability of magical beings to live peacefully together. 

This was of course if you disregarded the millenniums of obscure magical rivalries and the inherently destructive nature of fae magic. Between the extreme sales competition between the witches and warlocks, the morally questionable sales tactics of sirens, and the overall desire of pixies to wreak total havoc, it was no wonder that Argonis's street market was far from the magical place described on paper.

Argonis's street market was, in short, _chaos_.

"Fresh fruit! You break, you buy!" screamed a dryad as she started hurling her fruits at the crowd. Both you and Oikawa narrowly managed to escape being hit by a particularly fast pomegranate and picked up the pace to escape the line of fire.

"Enchanted wind chimes! Enchanted wind chimes! Have the breeze play you orchestral symphonies!" shouted a dwarf, fanning his wind chimes furiously to demonstrate. All the wind chimes began playing the different melodies at once, resulting in a clash of notes and rhythms that caused your ears to ring as you walked past.

 _And to think, you'd been planning on braving this on your own_. Already, your heart was racing, your body tense with the thought of impending doom from each and every direction. You clutched your purse anxiously. One crack in your defense and you could be stuck draining your wallet into the hands of any one of these tricky vendors. Nervous magic energy started collecting at your fingertips, causing your hands to take on a harsh red glow. 

On the other hand, Oikawa moved swiftly through the throng of people, completely unfazed by your surroundings. His posture was straight and confident, and his expression was relaxed, like being attacked by a cluster of aggressive salespeople was just something that happened to him daily. 

You hated to admit it, but you were kind of glad Oikawa had come here with you. While people jostled each other out of the way ruthlessly, Oikawa was confidently navigating a safe path through the crowd. As long as you followed closely behind him, you should make it out of here relatively unscathed.

Where was the moisturizer vendor actually? It'd been too long since you'd last been to the market and since there wasn't any discernible pattern in how the stalls were set up, people had to memorize the exact location of the vendors they frequented.

Did Oikawa know where you two were going? Based on the way he was moving so assuredly, you assumed so but then again, Oikawa was so frustratingly good at everything that he always had that pompous, cocky air around him. 

_Stupid Oikawa and his stupid natural talent and his_ —

All of your thoughts dissipated the moment Oikawa threaded his fingers through yours. Cheeks reddening, you looked up at him in alarm but he didn't so much as glance back at you, only continuing to walk rapidly down the market. Every gear in your brain was desperately turning, trying to make sense of the situation but Oikawa didn't even acknowledge that he was now holding your hand, his pace unfaltering. An indiscernible mix of emotions swirled around your gut. 

"Oikawa," you called out, loudly enough to be heard over the commotion.

He turned over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem, (Y/N)?"

"We're..." you trailed off, choosing instead to hold up your conjoined hands. You blamed the lack of experience holding people hands like this for making you feel so flustered. How could he act so nonchalantly? Was this normal for him? 

Oikawa smirked, pausing his walk to lean over towards you. You swallowed, unsure of why you were suddenly so nervous. Had weather gotten several degrees warmer? Why did everything feel so hot? "Well, usually when people go out with young children, they have to hold their hands to make sure they don't get lost."

And just like that, the confusing blend of emotions stewing in your gut vanished. Annoyance took its place instantly, making you frown and narrow your eyes at him. "Oh? Should we stop by a candy shop and buy something for you as well then?"

"Hey, you're the child here!" Oikawa cried (rather _childishly_ you might add). Nevertheless, your hands remained connected and the two of you forged on, all strange heart palpitations cleanly replaced with irritation. _How dare he accuse you of being a young child?_ If anything, it was Oikawa that had the freakishly smooth, infant skin and youthful appearance. 

Actually...your eyes narrowed at Oikawa's nonexistent pores. You were rather jealous of his skin, you'd admit that. Not only was it completely smooth, blemish-free, and firm, it had that healthy glow that you'd been trying to achieve for years. Oikawa either had the luck of the gods or the best skincare routine known to man.

"Fizzy water! Fizzy water! Fizzy water on sale right here!" hollered another vendor. At just the mention of fizzy water, both you and Oikawa's faces blanched. Although neither of you could remember what happened the night you'd slept over at his house, the fizzy water hangover the next morning had been too brutal to forget. You weren't even sure that you could ever look at a bottle of fizzy water again without your head pounding.

"We're here," Oikawa announced, stopping in front of a rather extravagant building. Unlike than the street stands surrounding it, this building had that sleek, pristine design that practically screamed expensive.

You furrowed your eyebrows. "Does this place sell _Wanda's Mesmerizing Moisturizer_?"

He clicked his tongue in distaste. "We're not buying that junk. If we came all the way to Argonis, the least you can do is buy quality products."

At least _Wanda's Mesmerizing Moisturizer_ was in your price range though. You grimaced at the extravagant bouquets that were visible through the display windows. As much as you'd like to have nice skin, you'd prefer to stay away from dipping into any of your emergency savings.

"Ah, I'm okay with _Wanda's_ though, I don't think this stuff will be necessary," you said awkwardly, unsure of a better way to tell Oikawa that you were flat out too poor for this. Unfortunately, your words fell on deaf ears. He tugged you into the store and you had no choice but to follow. 

Inside, the store was air-conditioned and nearly devoid of people, save for the sales clerk that greeted you at the entrance. The drastic change from the loud, crowded market outside to this peaceful store was almost jarring. Your eyes scanned over the store warily, looking for even one product that could possibly fall within your price range but coming up short.

"Good afternoon," said a store clerk from behind the counter. Her beauty and elegant figure made you suspect that she was probably a nymph. She bowed her head towards the two of you. "It's nice to see you again, Mr. Oikawa. Will it be the usual today?"

You glanced at Oikawa with wide eyes, surprised that the store clerk had memorized Oikawa's name. Did he really shop here that much? Then again, maybe it wasn't that surprising. Oikawa had a rather unforgettable presence and demeanor. Paired with his overall attractiveness, you supposed that it was only natural for somebody to remember his name.

"Actually, I'm shopping for her today." Oikawa raised your conjoined hands to demonstrate. 

"Oh, I see, I see," the clerk said, nodding her head. She then turned to face you and you couldn't help feeling like you were being analyzed. Her eyes flicked over your form and she tapped her lower lip contemplatively. "We've got a new set of hydrating and exfoliating creams that shipped in yesterday. It includes nymph mineral oil, gold flecks, and shea butter. That'll be very good for a general overall body feel although for the face..."

However, you didn't catch whatever else she said, too focused on _gold flecks_. There was gold inside these products? You had no idea what kind of benefits it could have but you did know that the price was bound to be absurdly high. Not to mention that nymph mineral oil was incredibly hard to obtain. Taking the fact that they were selling this in a set, then the price would have to be—

"We'll take it," Oikawa said before you could say anything. 

Your eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. You tugged on his sleeve, worry etched all over your features. "Oikawa," you hissed, doing your best to be discreet about it. "This is expensive. Maybe we should stick with something that doesn't have gold in it."

He looked over at you curiously. "Why do you care, (Y/N)? I'm the one paying for it."

Wait, what? Shocked, your hand slipped out of his and Oikawa took the opportunity to step over towards the counter and open his bag to grab his wallet. "Will the new perfume collection be released soon?"

"Yes, in about two weeks, Mr. Oikawa," the clerk said, taking Oikawa's money and popping open the cash register. You stood frozen in place, still barely comprehending what had just happened. Oikawa was really paying...? 

Before you knew it, Oikawa was placing a bag in your hand and walking towards the exit. When he opened the door, he glanced back at you and asked, "(Y/N), do you plan on walking or have you already forgotten how to do that too?"

Snapping back to your senses, you politely waved to the store employees and hurried out after him, bag swinging in your hand.

As expected, Oikawa hadn't bothered slowing down or waiting for you. You had to jog to keep up with him, a rather difficult task considering the sizable bag now in your hand. 

"Oikawa!" you called out after him before you finally managed to reach his side. "This set was so expensive. I can't accept this."

"The store doesn't allow returns," Oikawa said nonchalantly as he gave you an innocent smile.

"Then you should take it," you insisted, shoving the bag into his chest but Oikawa raised his hands up into the air.

"I can't. You and I don't have the same skin type," he pointed out, a smirk taking over his features. 

You huffed. "But I can't possibly accept such an expensive gift."

"(Y/N), just think of it as part of my charity work for hags. Before you came, the attractiveness level of the forest residents was at a 10. Because you're living there now, we've dropped to about a 9. In order to get back that point, you're going to have to step up your facial care routine." He pressed a hand to his chest like this was an issue that was very close to his heart. 

At this insult, you swiped the bag back and glared at him. "Never mind. I don't feel bad spending the money of someone who clearly has warlock blood running through them."

"Hey, take that back! I'll have you know that I'm perfectly free of any warlock blood." Oikawa puffed out his cheeks, indignant at the warlock accusation. "Anyways, now that we have your stuff, I need to stop by a few more places to run some errands before we can head back."

"What are you getting?" you asked, just out of curiosity. Oikawa's cottage had seemed fairly well-stocked when you'd last been there. 

He pulled out a list from his bag and scanned over it. "I need to stock up on more potion bottles and then pick up a new cauldron ladle."

"What's wrong with your ladle?" You pursed your lips, trying to remember what Oikawa's ladle had looked like when you last came over to his house.

"It's metal, (Y/N)!" Oikawa whined. "How am I supposed to have the appearance of an attractive witch that lives in a pretty cottage in the forest with a metal ladle?"

You stared at him incredulously. "I don't know. I've never really considered what type of material their ladle's made out of when I think about people."

Oikawa let out a sharp _tsk_ sound. "This is why you don't have a boyfriend, (Y/N)."

Folding your arms over your chest, you stuck your tongue out at him. "You'll be eating your words once I end up getting married to an extremely attractive and talented young man that's even more capable than you."

"I don't know how many times I need to tell you this, but you live in the middle of a forest. And besides..." He gave you a cheeky grin. "There's nobody more talented than I am."

It was impossible not to roll your eyes at this. "I'm sure everybody will aspire to be as ladle-conscious as you are."

"They should," Oikawa quipped.

Luckily, it didn't take long to buy the rest of Oikawa's stuff since the market's rush hour had already ended. You watched almost enviously as Oikawa easily haggled and charmed vendors into giving him unbelievably low prices, using both his good looks and quick wit to buy quality items for merely a few copper coins. By the time you two were finished, Oikawa had an armful of sturdy potion bottles in his hands and a brand new, olive wood ladle. 

Most of his time had been spent deciding between olive wood and beech but evidently, olive wood had been better suited to Oikawa's apparent "handsome, mysterious magic user connected to nature" aesthetic.

And as much as you hated to admit it, you agreed.

When the both of you boarded the train to go home, the sun was already setting across the horizon, dousing the sky in vibrant, warm colors. Streaks of red lined the underside of the clouds. The horizon was painted a bright orange, paired with shades of pink that highlighted the top of this orange layer. Awed by the sight, you held one of the train pole grips and watched quietly as the sun made its descent.

Oikawa stood next to you, equally mesmerized by the beauty. In this lighting, Oikawa's face had a softer glow to it, making him look more sincere somehow. And for the first time since you'd moved into the forest, the atmosphere between the two of you was peaceful. Calm.

You took this rare moment of tranquility to speak. "Oikawa? Thanks."

"Hmm?" He turned toward you with a curious gaze. "What for?"

"For this," you said, raising the bag in your hand. "And for coming with me today. I really appreciate it."

"It was just charity work," he replied.

But you didn't believe him. There had been something more than just pity between the two of you today. And judging by the look on his face, you suspected that Oikawa didn't believe himself either. 

Regardless, the two of you went on watching the sunset in a content silence. 


	8. graduation eve

* * *

_Because of magic's connection to the very essence of a witch, it is one of the hardest things to cultivate._

* * *

Although the roof of the school's astronomy tower was steep and lacking proper footholds, you maneuvered through it with a practiced ease. That, and you'd also applied a sticking charm to your shoes before you climbed out here. 

From this high up, the wind whipped at your face relentlessly, forcing you to blink rapidly to retain some of the moisture in your eyes. The sun had disappeared behind the horizon some time ago, so you relied solely on the remnants of light the dusk provided to navigate your way. Despite these obstacles however, you moved determinedly across, undeterred from your goal. 

Below you, sounds of muffled partying drifted out of every open window and door. Since it was the night before your high school graduation, the students had taken it upon themselves to throw one last, grand celebration before they left this school for good. After participating in the festivities for about two hours, you decided that you'd eaten enough chamomile cakes to last a decade and you simply weren't prepared to endure another ruthless round of _Truth or Hex_. Because the party spanned the entire school, you'd decided to escape to the one place that guaranteed you peace and quiet: the small ledge on the top of the astronomy tower roof. 

There wasn't a dramatic backstory behind how you'd discovered this place—just the result of some particularly intensive exploring one night as a first year—but nevertheless, it'd become quite useful during your time here at the Academy of Magic. Though it wasn't nearly as accessible as you would've liked (i.e. it happened to be fifty feet off the ground with no permitted means of entry), it had still been nice to have a place to yourself, considering how competitive and hectic this school was.

You reached a hand inside your cloak to make sure that the bottle of fizzy water you had smuggled out here was still securely tucked inside your cloak pocket. Once you were satisfied with its position, you began climbing up the roof. Pure experience told you which of the roof shingles were the sturdiest and thus, the safest to lean your weight on. The ledge was just past this section, meaning that you were almost there. You made your way up the last few steps and dropped onto the ledge.

Once both of your feet were safely planted on flat, solid ground, you breathed a sigh of relief. At last, you would finally have some peace and—

"(Y/N)?!" 

The unexpected voice almost caused you to slip off the ledge but your quick reflexes saved you. You shot a sharp burst of energy from your hand to stabilize yourself before looking up at this unanticipated guest.

"Oikawa?!"

The both of you stared at each other in shock. Oikawa was dressed in a crisp, white tunic shirt and black pants, so you assumed he must've come here straight from the party as well. His hair was slightly windswept, a result of the gentle breeze that passed through in spite of the shelter the roof behind you provided. 

"What are you doing here?" Oikawa demanded, standing up and folding his arms over his chest.

"I could ask you the same thing," you snapped back. You placed your hands over your hips and looked him directly in the eyes to prove you wouldn't be intimidated by him so easily. "How do you even know about this place?"

"I've been coming here for the last three years," Oikawa said, fixing you with an unimpressed gaze. "How do _you_ know about this place?"

You paused, brow creasing in confusion. "Wait...but _I've_ been coming here for the last three years."

"What?" Oikawa's expression morphed into bewilderment as well. "Then wouldn't we have run into each other before now?"

That was exactly your question too. There was no way that you and Oikawa could've frequented the same place and somehow avoided running into each other for three years...was there? 

"When did you usually come here?" you asked.

"Weeknights," he said.

You made an _'o'_ shape with your mouth. "I came here on weekends."

And with that question answered, you let out a long sigh and readjusted your cloak. Although you hated to admit it, Oikawa had arrived here first, which meant that he technically had the rights to the ledge for tonight. You'd have to go and find somewhere else to hang out while you waited for the party to die down. "I guess I'll get going then," you said, spinning around on your heel and preparing to climb back up the roof.

Before you could so much as find a proper foothold however, Oikawa interrupted you. "You can stay."

You froze, wondering if you'd misheard. "Sorry?"

Oikawa clicked his tongue and puffed out his cheeks, like saying his own words pained him. "Everywhere else is filled with people and this is probably the quietest place in the school right now. Just sit on the other side and face away from me so you don't disrupt this tranquil atmosphere with your hag appearance."

At the word _hag_ , you opened your mouth to protest but decided against it. There was no use squabbling with him when he was right. Considering the sheer size of the student body and their insatiable need to party, every nook and cranny inside the school was probably occupied. Oikawa had probably sought this place out knowing this as well. This was undeniably your best chance for somewhere calm, and so you sat down cross-legged on the other end of the ledge. "Thanks."

"Don't get used to it," Oikawa huffed. 

You stuck your tongue out at him. "Don't worry, I already know that you're only generous once every year."

He returned the gesture but said no more, only turning back around to face the horizon again. The two of you watched the sky fade from a subdued purple to a ebony blue in silence, the only sound being the faint music coming from the party inside.

Goosebumps formed up and down your arms as another gust of wind passed through. _It was colder than you'd expected_. You wrapped your cloak more tightly around your body and sneaked a glance at Oikawa. The tip of his ears were red, most likely from the cold. The thin fabric of his tunic probably didn't help either. But even so, Oikawa continued to look wistfully out in the distance, evidently unbothered by the chilly weather.

A part of you wondered if you should offer to make an enchanted fire, so the both of wouldn't freeze to death out on this ledge, but a pettier side of you vouched against it. Oikawa had been blessed by the universe for too long with his pretty face and long lashes and incredible magical talent and charm and—you huffed childishly, sticking your hands into your cloak pockets to save them from the cold. Your eyes widened as you felt the sleek glass bottle of fizzy water you'd tucked in there earlier. After all that bickering with Oikawa, you'd almost forgotten about it entirely.

For all of his unpleasant qualities (like the ability to look attractive regardless of the occasion or circumstance), you knew that Oikawa wasn't a snitch. Snitching was a decisively _warlock_ behavior and no self-respecting witch would ever stoop to that level. You could drink fizzy water safely in Oikawa's presence.

But then again, it was always nice to have a little insurance. There was absolutely no way that Oikawa would snitch on you if he was _also_ breaking the rules. And so, though this bottle had cost about half of your monthly allowance, you begrudgingly decided to offer him some.

"Are you of age?" you asked, swinging your legs around to face Oikawa.

He looked over his shoulder at you and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

You pulled the fizzy water bottle out of your coat and held it out to him. "Here. We can share."

Oikawa looked pleasantly surprised at this kind gesture. This however, only lasted a few moments before he narrowed his eyes and stared at the bottle suspiciously. "You didn't poison this, did you?"

"If I was going to poison you, I'd have someone else give you the drink," you scoffed, offended that he believed your poisoning methods to be so rudimentary. "Besides, do you know how much fizzy water costs these days? Why would I bother tainting an expensive drink like that?"

Satisfied with your response, Oikawa reached for the bottle and popped the cap off with an ease that indicated he'd had fizzy water plenty of times before. He tilted the bottle back into his mouth and drank for a solid few seconds before handing it back to you. "I didn't know you liked fizzy water."

"It's nice because it's sweet," you said, taking your own sip of the bottle and setting it between the two of you. "And if you think about it, this is our last chance to do something stupid before we graduate, y'know? After tomorrow, we'll no longer be allowed to do something dumb in the name of youth."

"What, like drinking fizzy water on a rooftop ledge fifty feet off the ground?" Oikawa smirked.

"Exactly," you said with a bright smile, snapping your fingers to emphasize your point. "At what other point in your life as you going to think that this is a good idea? This is the prime time to demonstrate the lengths of our foolishness."

Oikawa laughed, and you pretended like the sound of it didn't give you butterflies in your stomach. _Surely that was just the fizzy water. Carbonated drinks were bound to give you this feeling. It had nothing to do with Oikawa_. "Oh? I thought you'd made your foolishness pretty clear already, (Y/N)."

"Shut up," you said, although your tone held no real malice. You took another sip before passing it off to Oikawa. "At least Kiyoko Shimizu thought I was worthy of a reply."

The male shot you a glare. "Big words coming from the girl behind the infamous shrimp incident." 

Your face blanched at the memory. "Wait, I won't bring up Kiyoko if you agree to not mention the shrimp incident."

"Pinky promise it," Oikawa said, holding out his pinky.

You pursed your lips, still reluctant to let go of one of the few things you could tease Oikawa about...but being reminded about the shrimp incident was far worse. With a sigh, you locked your pinky with his. "Deal."

"What are you planning on doing after graduation?" Oikawa asked once the two of you had finished your pinky promise. "I didn't see your name on any of the university rosters."

 _Right_. You rubbed the back of your neck awkwardly. "That's....because I'm not going to a magical university."

To his credit, Oikawa appeared genuinely shocked. "Really? How come?"

"You already know that I'm only graduating because of the rare instances where I could summon a powerful bout of magic. My magic's always been kind of flaky, so I wouldn't be able to produce powerful magic consistently enough to get a good job in the magical community," you admitted, swirling the bottle of fizzy water absentmindedly. "So I'm going to enroll in a university in Tellurium instead."

"Is that...really what you think?" Oikawa's voice was oddly quiet. He seemed to want to say something more but thought better of it.

Sensing the strange shift in atmosphere, you swiftly changed the topic to Oikawa instead. "Where are you going to go?" 

Unfortunately, Oikawa wouldn't be distracted so easily. "You always scored consistently high marks in Herbology though. Why not pursue something there?"

"That's why I'm planning on opening up a flower shop in Tellurium," you said, drinking more of the fizzy water. You suddenly paused, a barely suppressed grin taking over your features as a realization struck you. "Are you asking because...you're worried about me?"

"No," Oikawa snapped, snatching the bottle from you and gulping down a hearty amount. "I was just curious."

"You're a terrible liar, Oikawa," you said, reveling in the way his cheeks took on a red hue. "Just admit that there was a small part of you that was concerned about my safety and well-being."

"You imagined it." Without warning, Oikawa flicked your forehead, causing you to yelp in pain. "Why would I be worried about a hag?"

"Right, I forgot warlocks don't have the ability to feel concerned for others." You shook your head and placed a hand over your heart dramatically. "Truly a shame."

"How rude." Oikawa puffed out his cheeks and took another sip of the fizzy water as you laughed at your own joke.

Time was difficult to measure since the sun had already vanished and nobody had bothered to hang a clock on the roof for rather obvious reasons. You suspected about an hour and a half had passed by the time you started to feel the effects of the fizzy water kick in. 

"I hate you," you announced, emboldened by the fizzy water running through your system. 

"I couldn't tell," Oikawa hummed, looking amused.

You pointed your index finger directly at him. "You know, it's really unfair to be that good-looking."

"Oh, really?" Oikawa grinned cheekily. "Are you jealous, (Y/N)?"

"I'm not jealous," you said hotly. "I'm only pointing out the injustices of the universe. You got too much of the good stuff. Good looks, talent, and charisma all for one person? Why does one person need all of that?"

Oikawa leaned in so close that you could detect the faint floral scent coming from his clothes. You swallowed thickly, overwhelmed by how nice he smelled. "Why? It's simply what I deserved."

You pouted. "By that logic, surely I deserved some good traits too."

He sat back and tilted his head slightly to the side. "Didn't you get some? You're pretty."

"W-what?" you sputtered, shocked at the nonchalance with which he had spoken. You placed your hands over your cheeks, wondering if the alcohol had caused you to hallucinate what Oikawa had said. 

But Oikawa's next words assured you that you hadn't. "You've always been pretty."

Unsure of how to respond to this unexpected compliment, you opted instead for another swig of fizzy water. It was a few more moments before either of you spoke again.

"I hope...things turn out well for you," you said, your voice soft. 

"Are you turning sentimental on me now, (Y/N)?" Oikawa teased. "Have my charms finally gotten to you?"

"It's not that I'm being sentimental," you said. "It's just...who knows if we'll ever see each other again? You're off to Argonis and I'll be going to Tellurium so the chances of us running into each other are low. Even if you were annoying, I think you at least deserve to have things turn out nicely."

For a moment, Oikawa was speechless, his expression unreadable. When he spoke again, his voice was so low that you almost didn't catch what he said. "You too."

You watched as Oikawa lifted the bottle of fizzy water up to his lips again. It was weird to think about not seeing Oikawa again. He'd occupied so much of your life for these past few years that you'd grown accustomed to having him around. You wondered if your fates were destined to separate from here or whether your paths would ever cross again. _Unlikely_ , you concluded. As a _dimidium magus_ , you simply weren't cut out for the kind of magical greatness Oikawa was capable of. The thought sent an inexplicable pang of disappointment through you.

"Can I kiss you?" Oikawa said, abruptly causing you to freeze. 

" _Huh_?"

"Last year, you said that I had so many positive traits that my flaw must be that I'm a bad kisser." He frowned at the memory. 

"So...you want to kiss me?" you repeated, too stunned by this proposal to comprehend it properly. _Kiss you? As in put his lips on your lips? That kind of kiss?_

"I can't allow you to go out with this false accusation. Imagine if I become rich and powerful and then you spread the rumor that I'm a terrible kisser." Oikawa stared up at the dark sky, as if picturing this scenario in his head. He then looked back at you. his face completely serious. "Do you know what kind of impact that would have on my reputation? If I kiss you, I'll be able to prove that I'm not a bad kisser."

You contemplated this proposition. While kissing your mortal enemy of the last three years was something you weren't too keen on doing, you had to admit that you were curious. What would kissing Oikawa feel like? If he ended up being a bad kisser, that gave you something you could hold over his head if you ever encountered him again but if he was a good one...you supposed that kissing him wouldn't be so bad. After all, his lips were soft and plump and a part of you had always pondered what they would feel like. 

"Fine," you agreed. "Let's do it."

Oikawa blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Did you not want me to agree?"

"No, I just..." His gaze suddenly dropped to your lips and you were struck with the realization that this was actually happening. He scooted closer to you until his hand brushed over yours. Your breath hitched in your throat as he used his other hand to gently cup your chin. _He was even prettier up close_. Your heart did a series of rapid flips from inside your chest. Oikawa slowly leaned in and your eyes fluttered shut just as his lips met yours.

You'd been right about his lips being soft and plump. But they were also plush and warm and you found yourself involuntarily melting into the kiss. He tasted sweet, no doubt from the remnants of fizzy water that still lingered on his lips. Oikawa shifted so that he was completely facing you. Heat bloomed out from your chest and to your fingers and you recognized it to be a surge of magic energy. It zipped through your body in quantities that you hadn't ever experienced before. The sensation was almost addictive. You chased after the feeling, seeking more and more.

When the two of you broke away, you were both panting heavily. Both yours and Oikawa's hands were glowing for some reason you couldn't explain. You spun away from Oikawa, alarmed by how fast your heart was racing. _What had just happened?_ _Why had you felt that magical surge?_ You let out a shaky breath and attempted to calm yourself down. 

Apparently you weren't the only one who was affected by the kiss. Oikawa's face was flushed and blue sparks shot out of his hands sporadically. He raked a hand back through his hair and cautiously made eye contact with you. "That was..."

"Yeah..." you breathed. "We should go back inside or we won't wake up in time for graduation tomorrow."

"Mm." Oikawa nodded, still looking flustered by the kiss. "Graduation."

 _Right_. You'd been so confident that you would never see him again after tomorrow but after that kiss—you couldn't explain it but you had the strangest feeling that you and Oikawa were destined to meet again. _No, that was impossible_. You brushed it off, telling yourself that you just needed to go to sleep. 

But even so...some tiny part of you hoped that it was true. 

"At least you know that I'm a good kisser now," Oikawa said, cleanly cutting through your thoughts. He stared at you triumphantly, a bright smile on his face.

You shrugged, feigning indifference "It was alright."

"Hey! Take that back!"

You laughed, climbing over the roof before Oikawa could hex you. "Good night!"


	9. river bank

* * *

_Empathy is arguably the most powerful form of magic in this universe._

* * *

Even the relentless heat of the afternoon sun couldn't deter you from the task at hand. You crouched down on the river bank, ignoring the uncomfortable _squish_ of the ground beneath your shoes as you did so. Since you knew you'd be working only a few feet from the river's edge, you'd worn some of your ugliest shoes in preparation for the muddy land. This was accompanied by a pair of old overalls and thick work gloves, meaning you had absolutely no fear of the mud around you.

Well, _almost_ no fear.

"Ick," you said, making a disgusted face as you set your pile of empty flower pots down. Maybe you should've brought ear plugs so you wouldn't have to hear the _squelching_ noise every time you moved. Still, at least you weren't going through all this trouble for nothing.

The enchanted forest housed a variety of different magical plants (one of the reasons you'd been so eager to move here), and one of them happened to be the lily of the valley. Although these flowers were a common ingredient in a lot of complex potions, they'd been rather hard to come by back when you lived in Tellurium. After you'd discovered an abundance of them growing alongside the river here, you'd immediately rushed home to grab your gardening tools. There was no way you were going to pass up a chance to propagate such a valuable flower...even if that meant braving this unwelcoming environment surrounding you.

With the back of your wrist, you wiped away some of the sweat on your brow. Given how muddy and unstable this part of the forest was, there were very few trees that grew here and during this time of day, none of them provided any shade. You glared at the cluster of white flowers in front of you. "You're all lucky that you're pretty," you grumbled, taking your shovel and scooping a generous helping of dirt into your pots.

Though you continued to fuss and gripe about your less-than-optimal work conditions, you worked diligently, quickly filling up your pots and cutting flower stems to use in your propagation. Once you were finished, you let out a relieved sigh and sat back onto the ground, only remembering where you were when you felt your bottom sink into the mud. _Shoot_.

Even so, you didn't bother moving. Your clothes were already dirty anyway so at the very least, you could allow yourself to sit here and and rest for a while. Now that the flower pots were completely filled, they were incredibly heavy, and you needed a break before you tried carrying them back to your house. 

But you had to admit, being here was kind of nice. Not actively working made the afternoon sun much more bearable, and you closed your eyes to bask in its warmth. With the quiet murmuring of the river next to you, it was easy to relax. Back in Tellurium, you'd never had the opportunity to do this.

 _No wonder my skin had been so bad_ , you mused to yourself. _But now that I have this and the products Oikawa bought_ —

Your eyes instantly shot open at the thought of Oikawa. You swiftly peeled off your gloves and clapped your hands over your cheeks, scolding yourself for letting your thoughts trail back to him. He'd been infiltrating your mind a lot lately, ever since the two of you had gone on that shopping trip to Argonis together.

 _It was the Pretty Boy Effect_ , you concluded. You'd spent too much time alone together with a person that was so unreasonably attractive that all your hormones had gone crazy and convinced you that Oikawa Tooru (your mortal enemy!) was somehow, kind of, maybe, almost, _perhaps_ a nice person. Which was ridiculous! Nobody that accused you of being a hag could ever be classified as nice. 

Then again...you traced your fingers over your cheeks, relishing how soft and supple your skin was. Oikawa had somehow managed to guess your exact skin type and buy you the perfect products to match. The products hadn't exactly been cheap either, considering how the brand was one of the most high-end in the industry. Even if he claimed that he'd only done it as part of his volunteer work, the gesture had still been undeniably...nice. 

"Agh!" you groaned out loud, burying your face in your hands. You had more important things to worry about rather than contemplating your conflicting feelings over your longtime academic rival turned neighbor. For one, Panini hadn't been fed since this morning and two, you needed to get these flowers back to your house before it got dark. 

You let out a sigh and reluctantly got up, doing your best to avoid getting any more mud on your clothing than you already had. You'd initially brought over four empty flower pots stacked on top of each other but now that all of them were filled, you realized that you'd only be able to carry two at a time, meaning you would have to make two separate trips.

"Logically, I should be making two trips because trying to stack them would risk crushing the flowers but making two trips feels like admitting defeat," you said out loud to yourself, staring at the flower pots. Ultimately however, you decided that these flowers were more important than your pride, hefted up two boxes into your arms, and began walking back to your cottage. 

You only stayed at your house long enough to set down the flower pots and feed Panini before venturing back to the river bank. When you arrived though, you were startled to find Iwa growling at a few bluebells, just a few meters away from where you'd been working earlier. 

"Iwa?" you asked cautiously. The ocelot didn't show any signs of acknowledgement, only continuing to hiss and snarl at the flower with its fur standing up on end. You stepped closer and squatted down next to Iwa, placing your hand on your ground to steady yourself. "What's wrong?"

Just as soon as you had asked, you felt a sharp pain in your hand and immediately retracted it with a yelp. "What was...?"

Your eyes widened as you saw a flicker of red, magical energy zip through the bluebells, turning them a dark purple color for a few seconds. By the time the color faded, the pain in your hand had too. Your lips parted subconsciously as understanding about Iwa's strange behavior dawned on you. 

"The corruption curse?" Instead of putting your hand back on the ground to double check this theory, you decided to touch the petals of the bluebells. As you had suspected, the same sharp pain as earlier zapped your fingers, causing you to draw them back. The bluebells also darkened back to that purple color but unlike before, the color didn't vanish. Rather, you watched as the flowers began drooping and the petals fell off the flower until the plant had completely wilted. 

Iwa let out a loud growl at the sight of this. You turned your attention back to the ocelot and pursed your lips. Had Iwa sensed the curse remnants? You'd walked Panini around the area before and Panini had been blissfully oblivious to any dark energy but that said, Panini wasn't a familiar. You recalled the conversation you had with Oikawa back when he'd first met Panini.

_"This is Panini."_

_"What can he do?" Oikawa asked, scrutinizing Panini warily._

_"He knows to pee outdoors and won't pee on anything that you're growing," you said proudly._

_Oikawa looked at you like you were the biggest fool to ever materialize on this planet. "No, I mean what can he do? If he's your familiar, he has to have some talent."_

_"Familiar?" You blinked. "Oh no, I don't have a familiar. He's just um...he's just my dog."_

_"You're a witch and you don't have a familiar?" Oikawa gazed at you incredulously and pointed at Panini. "He doesn't have any sort of connection with you or powers?"_

_You pursed your lips and told yourself to remain calm. "Well, he's my dog so I assume we have a connection but no, no powers. Just a dog."_

Was one of Iwa's powers being able to sense malicious magical energy? You already knew that Panini was in charge of harvesting ingredients around the forest for Oikawa but you hadn't been aware that Iwa was capable of something as complex as this. Only magical entities could detect magical energies and even then, it took years of honing your talent to learn how to identify different types of energies.

"Leave it to Oikawa to have a familiar that's just as talented as he is." You shook your head and slowly reached your hand out to Iwa. "Hey, Iwa, it's okay. I'll make sure the curse won't hurt you so you can calm down, okay?"

Iwa finally looked over at your hand, but the gaze on the ocelot's face was so menacing that you momentarily paused, your hand just a few inches away from Iwa's fur. But Iwa only sniffed your hand before gently bumping your palm with his head, as a way of giving you permission to touch him. You carefully scratched the back of his ears, watching as his posture relaxed until he was laying in between your feet, purring softly. 

As you continued scratching Iwa's ears, your eyes flickered back to the wilted bluebells in front of you. You'd already known that the magic corruption manifested in the form of fog but you hadn't realized that it could take up residence in the plants of the forest as well. 

It clearly wasn't a friendly tenant though. The curse remnants had only occupied these flowers for a short amount of time but it had still managed to kill them. You could only imagine what the stream of corruption magic running underneath the ground was doing to the life of this forest. 

"Living in a dying enchanted forest isn't quite what I had in mind when I moved here," you joked out loud to Iwa, who only peered back at you with unblinking golden eyes. "Kind of ruins the whole cottagecore aesthetic, y'know?"

But truthfully, you'd grown rather attached to this place, despite the short period of time you'd been living here. Your heart grew heavy at the thought of the curse remnants potentially harming the forest. Even if you bickered and squabbled with Oikawa, you had to admit, you'd had worse neighbors before. Oikawa had allowed you to stay the night back when the fog had surrounded the forest and accompanied you to Argonis too. _Sure,_ he was irritating and rude and unjustly handsome and talented but...you felt comfortable with him. 

"But Iwa, he's my ultimate nemesis!" you cried. "We're not supposed to be comfortable with each other. Our entire relationship is founded on the urge to throttle each other at all times!"

You hadn't ever seen a disbelieving ocelot before, but that was the only way to describe the expression on Iwa's face. Iwa stared at you silently, obviously unimpressed. 

"I mean, that's..." you trailed off, recalling your memories of Oikawa. Most of them involved some form of teasing or competition, but despite your earlier insistence that you two weren't comfortable with each other, you couldn't name a single instance where being with Oikawa _hadn't_ been easy. Being with him had always been natural, and you frowned at this realization.

Iwa let out a soft _yowl_ like he could sense your thoughts. You sighed, giving him one last scratch behind the ears before standing up. "I'll get going now, Iwa. Make sure you get home before it gets dark, okay? I saw the beginnings of fog earlier so it'll be dangerous to stay out tonight."

And with that, you grabbed the two flower pots that you'd come for and watched as Iwa elegantly padded away and disappeared behind a grove of trees. 

"How does Oikawa even have a familiar that walks gracefully? Shouldn't he spare some beauty for the rest of us?" you asked, shaking your head. Before you made your own way home, you spared one last glance at the wilted bluebells. There was a weird churning feeling in your gut that told you the corruption curse might be more dangerous than you initially believed.

* * *

When you returned home, you found Panini waiting at the gate of your cottage, his tail wagging eagerly at your arrival. You smiled, setting down the flower pots and affectionately patting his head. "How've you been, Panini?"

He let out a happy bark, placing his front paws on your legs in his excitement. Unable to resist his appeal, you knelt down onto the ground and started rubbing his back. "You wouldn't happen to have any magical powers that you're hiding from me, are you?"

Panini only responded by bumping his nose against your cheek, causing you to laugh. "Your power is just being the cutest dog ever, huh? Come on, let's go inside. We deserve a feast after all that hard work today."

Above your cottage, the setting sun cast a brilliant red glow across the sky but on the ground, a flash of red energy zipped across in a lightning pattern, so quickly that it was gone within a blink of an eye. But this went unnoticed as you closed the door, too distracted by the disheveled state of your clothing.

"Crap, it'll take forever to get all this mud off."


	10. spell book.

* * *

_Coincidence is merely a guise for those who are skeptical of fate._

* * *

The town of Iridia was located just a few miles outside of the enchanted forest, a quaint place that boasted a population of only a few thousand people. Most of them were retired magic users, people who possessed magical capabilities but who had grown too old for the hustle and bustle of Argonis. Iridia offered a peaceful area in which they were free to continue practicing magic, but its main selling point was the gigantic library in the middle of the town center. Though it was unreasonably large for such a small town, the library was a convenient source of information for you, especially since it was only a half hour walk from your cottage.

In fact, you were standing in the middle of the Iridian Library now, scanning through the massive bookshelves that lined the walls. Your fingers glided delicately over the spines of the various leather-bound books until you arrived in front of one that looked promising. You swiftly pulled it off the shelf and traced the gold letters embossed onto the cover with your fingers. 

" _Herbalicious: The Complete Potions Recipe Book_ ," you read aloud, opening the cover and thumbing through the pages. "Hiccup Cure, Fortune Elixir, Love Potion, Muck Dissolver..."

Satisfied with your skim, you set it on top of the growing pile of books in your bag that you had deemed "potentially useful." Most of these were encyclopedias and reference books similar to the one you had just pulled off the shelf. Though none of them contained the answer to the question you were actually here to solve, these books had other information that you reckoned would come in handy as well. 

"That Muck Dissolver recipe might finally get that one stain off the stove," you mused to yourself as you began browsing the next aisle. Most of the books in this section detailed the history of magic, but only one in particular caught your eye. " _The Comprehensive Guide to Magical Familiars_?"

You tilted your head in curiosity, carefully removing the book from the shelf and reading through the introduction.

**_INTRODUCTION: A GENERAL OVERVIEW_ **   
_—Magical familiars serve as accompaniments to a witch's magical power, often strengthening or expanding upon a witch's talents. Familiars are distinct from regular pets in the fact that they possess magical blood, a keen ability to sense a witch's true emotions, and a deep magical bond with their respective witches. Because of this, acquiring a familiar can be difficult and may cause witches to examine whether or not it is truly worth it. This book will cover the specifics as to a familiar's capabilities and the extent of their magical limitations._

"Ability to sense a witch's true emotions?" You raised an eyebrow, feeling offended on Panini's behalf. "It's not like Panini's completely oblivious to what I'm feeling."

Nevertheless, you slipped the book into your bag anyway. Even if you had no interest in getting a familiar, you supposed at the very least you'd finally be able to know whether or not Iwa was actually as powerful as Oikawa chalked him up to be.

But despite the formidable collection of books in your bag, you still didn't have one that looked like it'd answer the question you came here to ask. You pursed your lips and scanned the giant directory hanging above you, too absorbed in examining the different sections to notice the person standing in front of you until you ran into them.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" you apologized automatically, bowing your head. When you looked up though, any remorse you had immediately slipped from your expression, replaced instead with sheer surprise. "Oikawa?!"

Oikawa seemed just as stunned to see you here. Granted, this _was_ the most closest and largest library by the two of you, but neither one of you had ever run into each other outside of the forest before. Today, he was wearing a black tunic, complete with simple gold detailing around the collar and brown trousers to match. A pair of thin, black glasses rested on his nose, framing his features immaculately (much to your annoyance). You didn't have time to dwell on this new accessory however, because once the shock had worn off, Oikawa visibly grimaced at the sight of you. "Why are _you_ here? Are you stalking me?"

You scoffed, folding your hands over your chest. "As if. Out of the two of us, I'm the more interesting one so you must be stalking _me_."

The male scrunched up his nose, as if just the idea of you being more interesting was unpleasant. "That doesn't explain why you're here though."

While you would've liked to uphold a reputation as a woman of many secrets, you'd spent too long blindly searching this library to hide your intentions from Oikawa. "Do you know where I can find information about curses? I know it'd be foolish to override the corruption curse on the forest but I still want to know if there's anything I can do to help."

At this, you swore you saw his face soften, although you dismissed it as a trick of the light. "Curses? You'll probably want to try the shelves to the left of that archway."

"Ah thanks," you said, setting off in the direction he'd pointed. But you'd only taken a few steps before you paused, turning around and looking at him with your eyes narrowed in suspicion. "This isn't a trick, is it?"

"(Y/N)," Oikawa said sweetly, flashing you a wicked smile. "Didn't I tell you I perform charity work for hags? I'm merely assisting you since you're apparently incapable of reading a directory."

You glanced back up at the directory and sure enough, the shelves that Oikawa had pointed at earlier were labeled _Curses, Hexes, and Jinxes Galore_. Rather than admitting he'd been correct though, you simply spun back around and marched off to the section with your head held high, even as you heard Oikawa's victorious cackle from behind you.

But any bitterness on your end was soon forgotten as you arrived in front of the shelves. Here, the volumes were much promising than the aisles you'd been browsing before. You selected a book called _So You've Been Cursed!_ and rifled through the Table of Contents before placing it in your bag with a content nod. With the amount of books you were carrying, you decided it was time for you to start reading. 

Although the Iridian Library was enormous, most of it was occupied solely by books and shelves. There was only one area dedicated for people to sit and read, a decently-sized section in the West Wing that was lined with towering windows and an ample amount of sunlight. Evidently, you'd come on a fairly busy day because there was only one chair in the reading area that was empty—which was right next to none other than Oikawa Tooru.

"Am I cursed?" you muttered to yourself, furrowing your eyebrows. Another quick scan around the area confirmed that that was indeed, the last open seat. You supposed that you could always read outside or lug your books back to the cottage and read there, but it was scorching hot outside and you weren't willing to endure the heat for that long. Besides, you weren't about to sit on the ground or read standing up, so with a long sigh, you resigned yourself to trudging over and avoiding eye contact with Oikawa as you sat down.

Fortunately, Oikawa seemed to engrossed in his own book to notice your presence. Taking this as a small piece of mercy from the universe, you opened up the book on curses and began reading.

**_CHAPTER XI: CORRUPTION CURSES_ **

_Corruption curses are the result of a bond between a witch and a magical entity that has been soiled, that is to say, a magical bond that has been corrupted because of the witch's usage of dark magic. Though scary in both name and reputation, the corruption curse is very slow-acting, often taking hundreds of years before it can destroy the magical entity. There is no known reversal for a corruption curse to this date, and the hypothesized spells that would be powerful enough to override one are so rare and risky that one should not attempt to perform them._

_One such hypothesized spell is the Verus Amor, which has been successfully performed and documented a mere two times throughout all of history. This spell takes two magic users to complete. As the name of the spell implies, these two magic users must be thoroughly and unfailingly in love with each other, to the point where their magical energies have bonded together. If done correctly, the magical power from one person may be transferred to the other, thus magnifying the receiver's abilities. However, this type of magical transfer comes at the expense of the giver's health._

You closed the book and frowned. _No known reversal for a corruption curse?_ Was there really nothing you could do? The idea made you uneasy, but the book had mentioned that corruption curse would take hundreds of years before it consumed the forest so at least you had time. 

That didn't stop this information from thoroughly disheartening you though. You winced, recalling how those bluebells had been consumed by such violent magic. To imagine that happening to the entire forest one day...you let out an involuntary shudder. 

In stark contrast to your thoughts however, the library possessed a soothing tranquility. Now that it was the afternoon, sunlight streamed through the windows and flooded the building with warmth and light. While you'd been reading, it seemed that most of the patrons had already left, presumably to get lunch, leaving just you and Oikawa in the reading section. He was still focused intently on his book, his hair taking on a luminous glow underneath the sun. His face was equally radiant, the glasses only enhancing his features. Oikawa's lips formed the tiniest of pouts as he continued reading, which only emphasized how plush and soft they looked. It was an entrancing sight, really. Reminded you of that night before graduation, when the two of you had—

Wait no, why were you thinking about that now? You clapped your hands over your cheeks in an attempt to clear it from your mind. Allowing yourself to have these thoughts meant venturing into dangerous territory and unlocking memories you'd long since repressed, like how luscious Oikawa's lips had felt, how perfectly they'd melded against yours, how—

"Why do you look so scandalized? Were you having naughty thoughts, (Y/N)?" Oikawa asked, his voice snapping you out of your stupor. 

Heat flooded your face instantly. He didn't know what you were thinking, did he? You were pretty sure that Oikawa didn't have mind-reading powers, but then again, he'd always managed to surprise you. "N-no! I was just thinking perfectly normal thoughts."

"Sure." A sly smirk found its way to Oikawa's face. "And do these perfectly normal thoughts usually make you so flustered?"

Desperate to steer his attention away from you and keep him from guessing what you'd been thinking about, you ended blurting, "You have a smudge on your face!"

"What?!" If anything could detract him from teasing you, it would definitely be to insinuate that he had an unkempt appearance. He frantically wiped his cheek for this nonexistent smudge. "Is it gone now?"

"Yeah. Walking around with that huge smudge all day is such a warlock thing to do though. You're lucky I offered my kind services," you huffed, trying to look as nonchalant as you could.

"Tch." Oikawa clicked his tongue sharply. "Smudge or not, nothing could ever impede my good looks."

"Mhm," you hummed noncommittally. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

And though you had already fished out a different book to read from your bag, you continued to feel the weight of Oikawa's lingering gaze. After it became clear he wasn't going to go back to reading his book, you looked over at him questioningly. "Is something wrong?"

His brow was slightly creased, like he was trying to decipher something. "Are you using the creams I gave you?"

"The creams?" You blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected question. "Yeah. Why?"

"No reason," Oikawa said, although he didn't tear his gaze away from you. "You just look...weirdly brighter today. I guess those creams must've been better than I thought."

And you'd tried so _so_ hard to stop the strange fluttering in your chest and squash the swarm of butterflies in your stomach, but at Oikawa's words, it was simply impossible. You quickly turned away, hoping he wouldn't be able to sense the effect his words had on you. "I guess so."

Oikawa then picked his book back up and began reading again, but you couldn't focus on yours, too distracted by what he had just said and the memory of kissing him on the school rooftop. You wondered if Oikawa thought about the kiss at all, or if he'd forgotten about it entirely. On the other hand, you didn't think you could forget about it if you tried, especially not when you could still vividly recall the surge of magic that had zipped through you when your lips had connected. Your fingers flexed subconsciously, but you quickly closed them into a fist, erasing any thoughts about that bizarre experience.

Whatever it had been, you doubted it was important. 


	11. lucky charm

* * *

_Change is a gradual thing, one that becomes most visible only when it has already occurred._

* * *

Panini trotted happily just a few paces in front of you, his tail wagging with an eagerness that could only be explained by the amount of people out and about today. Luckily, today was much cooler temperature-wise than it had been for the past week, meaning walking outside no longer felt like being submerged into the sweltering depths of hell. It appeared that many of the residents of the town of Iridia shared this sentiment, since the streets were bustling with life. Both you and Panini happily greeted the people you passed, Panini with a cheerful _bark_ and you with an equally enthusiastic wave. 

But the pleasant weather wasn't the only reason that you'd ventured back into town today. Apparently Iridia was hosting its annual flea market, and since you didn't have much else to do (one of the few drawbacks of living in an enchanted forest), you decided to see if there was any wares you liked. 

You could tell you were getting closer to the town center by how the faint chattering grew louder and louder. By the time you arrived at the town center, you found yourself in the middle of what appeared to be a much calmer version of the Argonis's street market. 

"Would you like some aprons, young lady?" asked an old woman to your left. You shook your head but gave her a polite bow before moving on. Although the merchants were still advertising their goods, none of them were yelling nearly as loudly as the Argonis merchants had been. _Maybe that's just because most of the Iridian citizens are old and retired_ , you thought to yourself. Whatever the reason, you felt a lot more relaxed strolling through here than you had in Argonis. 

_Good thing too, because you didn't have Oikawa to deal with any particularly aggressive people_. The moment this thought entered your head however, you clapped your hands over your cheeks and internally chastised yourself. What were you thinking? Why were you even bringing up Oikawa? You could handle aggressive salespeople on your own! There wasn't any reason for you to need Oikawa, no, no reason at—

A _woof_ from Panini pulled you out of your thoughts. Panini was busy sniffing a pile of silver trinkets that lay on a mat next to you. The vendor, a kindly-looking elf, glanced up at you with hopeful eyes. "May I pet him?"

"Of course!" You nodded. The vendor enthusiastically began scratching behind Panini's ears. Panini closed his eyes contentedly, basking in the attention. You took the opportunity to examine the various trinkets strewn out on the mat. Almost all of them were jewelry, a collection of necklaces, bracelets, and rings, but none of them caught your eye until you spotted a barrette twinkling delicately underneath the sunlight. 

Intrigued, you carefully picked it up and turned it back and forth in your hand. The barrette consisted of gold wildflowers, all arranged in a delicate line. Small pearls adorned the center of each of the flowers, enough so that it was eye-catching without being gaudy. Seeing your interest, the vendor perked up and said, "That barrette is worth about five copper coins, but for you, I'll drop it down to three."

"Really?" Your eyebrows shot up in surprise. _Just three copper coins?_ Even if the pearls and gold lining weren't real, three copper coins was basically a steal for anything this pretty.

"Both you and your dog are so good-looking. It'd be a crime if I didn't reduce the price for you two," the vendor said, giving Panini one more affectionate scratch. 

It took all your willpower not to beam smugly. Oikawa hadn't believed you when you'd told him that Panini had been the cutest dog on the block back in Tellurium but clearly, he was just blind. 

"Thank you so much!" you said, giving the vendor three copper coins from your pocket and bowing your head in gratefulness. "Have a nice day!"

"And to you as well!"

You placed the barrette into your dress pocket and continued browsing the flea market, though you reminded yourself not to be tempted to buy too much. After all, you no longer had the money you used to make from your old flower shop in Tellurium.

Fortunately, most of the things being sold were items that you already had back in your cottage. You passed mats filled with stack cauldrons, potion bottles of all shapes and sizes, an assortment of ceramic dishware, and a mirror shaped curiously into the silhouette of a frog—which you had just barely stopped yourself from purchasing. In fact, your self-restraint lasted right up until you saw a small display stand with good luck charms swaying delicately in the breeze.

"Lucky charms! Lucky charms!" called the lucky charm vendor in a hoarse voice as he rang a bell. "Just five copper coins!"

"Should we check it out?" you asked Panini, who wagged his tail excitedly. Taking that as a _yes_ , you made your way over to the stand and began surveying the various charms available. Some of them were the traditional talismans with good blessings written on the outside whereas the others were items to help aid in good luck, such as salt to toss over one shoulder. You examined each of these closely, taking note of the things that they were supposed to bring good luck to. "Success, wealth, love, eternal happiness..." you recited. "Oh, doesn't this look like Iwa?"

You pointed at a _maneki neko_ , a lucky waving cat statue. It was no larger than the palm of your hand, but the sheen on the statue reminded you of Iwa's glistening fur coat. Panini sniffed it cautiously before turning towards you with a large smile, the statue having apparently received his approval. "Come to think of it, I don't believe I ever properly paid Oikawa back for the facial stuff he gave me."

As much as you hated to admit it, Oikawa had somehow managed to accurately guess your skin type and buy you the skincare products that complemented it perfectly. Never in your life had your skin been so dewy or clear. You'd thought that your old moisturizer had been relatively effective but even that paled in comparison to the products you were using now. Oikawa really hadn't been lying when he said that even nymphs had asked him for his skincare routine. 

You let out a soft groan at the realization. He'd done you a massive favor by accompanying you to Argonis and purchasing the products, and though he'd told you that he didn't need anything in return, you didn't like the feeling of owing him anything. 

"Maybe I should buy him something," you muttered to yourself as you examined up the _maneki neko_. "This is cute, isn't it, Panini?"

But Panini's attention had already been diverted by some nearby bamboo stalks. You checked to make sure that he wasn't disturbing the plants before looking back down at the statue in your hand. It stared back up at you with cute black eyes and you smiled, tapping its paw lightly with your finger. "Excuse me sir, this is five copper coins, right?"

"That's right," the vendor said, strolling over to you. "You've made a good decision in buying this one."

"Oh really? Is it particularly lucky or something?" you asked, tilting your head slightly to the side in curiosity.

"No, I just think it's cute," he said, letting out a hearty chuckle. You laughed along with him, counted out five copper coins from your purse, placed it in his outstretched hand, and then continued through the rest of the market with Panini. It wasn't long before the two of you reached the end of the market, considering how small the town was. Before heading back home however, you decided to give your legs a break and took a seat underneath the shade of a large oak tree.

"Do you think Oikawa would like this?" You held up the _maneki neko_ for Panini to look at again. "He probably doesn't believe in good luck charms, but maybe he'll like it since it kind of resembles Iwa."

Panini, although he was heart-wrenchingly adorable, could unfortunately not understand what you were saying and so, he only wagged his tail eagerly at you. You let out a sigh and patted his head. "You're so lucky you're cute. What would we do with you otherwise, hm?"

_Arf!_

There was probably no use stressing out over whether Oikawa would like the _maneki neko_ considering you'd already bought it anyway. You tucked the statue into your pocket, just for your fingers to brush over the barrette you'd placed there earlier. A smile overtook your features as you plucked it out of your pocket to look at again. Now that the sun had emerged from where it'd been hiding behind some clouds earlier, the barrette was even prettier. You untangled your hair with your fingers and clipped the barrette into place. 

"Alright, let's get this to Oikawa and then head back home and start making lunch," you said, standing up and dusting the dirt off of your legs. "How does a tomato and herb quiche sound?"

The walk to Oikawa's home was for the most part, uneventful, say for the brief moment where you had to convince Panini not to chase after a squirrel. Your mind was mainly occupied by how you were going to give the _maneki neko_ to Oikawa. Would you just leave it on his doorstep with a note? Or maybe that was too impersonal. Should you just knock on his door, shove it in his face, and leave? You supposed that would be in character with the whole "rivals" thing you two had going on but then again, he'd probably be suspicious of the statue if you didn't give him some kind of explanation. 

"Agh, how am I supposed to do this?" you asked, glancing up at the sky as if the heavens would give you some kind of divine message. Unfortunately for you, the clouds remained silent. "I'm probably just overthinking this. This is a gift, right? All I need to do is tell him it's a gift and then go."

Before long, you and Panini had arrived in front of Oikawa's cottage. You took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, racking up your courage. _You could do this!_ It was just a matter of knocking on his door and giving him the gift. Everybody loved gifts, right? What were you afraid of anyway? That Oikawa was going to blind you with his annoying good looks?

"I can do this," you told yourself, straightening your posture and placing your hands on your hips. "This is going to be easy as harvesting plucking dandelions. I can totally do this."

So with that, you told Panini to wait by the gate and marched forward until you arrived at Oikawa's doorstep. There, you knocked three times before stepping back and waiting. 

And waiting.

And waiting.

And— _What's taking him so long to answer the door?_ you panicked internally. _Was he not home? Had he stepped out to do something and left you waiting on his porch like a fool?_

But before you could lose your nerve, the door swung open to reveal Oikawa standing in the doorway, with wet hair and a towel slung around his neck.

 _Oh_.

"(Y/N)? What do you need?" he asked, raising one eyebrow upon seeing you. Sadly for you, your brain had immediately short-circuited at the sight of Oikawa's damp shirt clinging to his chest. _This hadn't been in the plan._ "Yoohoo, (Y/N)?"

Oikawa waved his hand in front of your face, and it finally seemed to snap you out of your daze. Flustered, you grabbed the _maneki neko_ out of your pocket and thrust it into his chest. "Here, this is for you."

"What's this?" Oikawa asked, the surprise evident across his features. 

"It's..." Gosh, what was wrong with you? You'd been so confident before he'd opened the door, but it was like all of your thoughts had flown right out of your head. You clapped your hands over your cheeks in an attempt to compose yourself, adding further to Oikawa's confusion. "It's a lucky cat statue. As a thank you. For the...products."

"Products..." Oikawa repeated, clearly not following.

"Yeah. Skincare products. Because I never properly thanked you," you told him, hoping the heat in your cheeks wasn't visible. Was it even possible for a person to look so good after just stepping out of the shower? How had Oikawa managed to be blessed by the universe in every possible way? "I thought you would like it since...it kind of looks like Iwa."

Oikawa's brow furrowed. "Huh. Stay still for a moment."

"What?"

Before you could react, Oikawa was already reaching his hand out towards you. He gently smoothed pulled out wayward strands of hair from your barrette and tucked them behind your ear. "Your hair was stuck on the clip," he explained nonchalantly.

You wondered if you'd incurred the wrath of a particularly vengeful god sometime in your past life. There was no other way to explain why your heart was beating so quickly or why you'd seemed to lost the ability to simply _think_. "A-ah. Thanks. I'm going to go make quiche now. Have a nice day!"

"Don't scare any forest animals with your hag-like appearance," Oikawa called after you.

At last, your confidence seemed to have finally returned to you. You whipped around and stuck your tongue out at him just before he shut the door. A huff left your lips and you glared at his cottage. "Stupid Oikawa and his stupid good looks. Anybody would've been caught off guard by his wet hair. He had a towel! Shouldn't he have been using it to dry off? Any normal person would've dried themselves off with the towel before opening the door. Come, Panini! I'm going to angry-bake a quiche."

You didn't stop bitterly cursing Oikawa the entire way back to your cottage. 

* * *

Oikawa placed the statue on his coffee table, watching the way its paw swung back and forth. Iwa slinked his way into the room and wrapped his tail around Oikawa's legs, observing the statue silently. Oikawa crouched down and gave Iwa an affectionate rub.

"It does kind of look like you, doesn't it?"

 _Meow_.

"(Y/N)'s never given me a gift before. I wonder if she's sick or something," Oikawa hummed to himself. 

Had Oikawa looked in the mirror, he would've seen how the corners of his lips twitched upwards at the thought of (Y/N). 


	12. willow tree.

* * *

_The number one rule of witch horticulture is that each plant is a direct reflection of the love its given._

* * *

His hands traced over the trunk of the hawthorn tree, his long, slender fingers gently running over the rough bark. Even with his fingers just barely skimming the surface, Oikawa could feel the pleasant rush of magical energy coming from the tree, how it pulsed and thrummed underneath the bark. 

But Oikawa wasn't interested in the stream of magical energy coursing so close to the surface. He closed his eyes and concentrated his own magic energy into the center of his palm, sending it through the bark and into the center of the tree. There, he could feel the tendrils of his magic brushing against something much more sinister, the remnants of the corruption curse. In a particularly brave (or arguably stupid) move, Oikawa decided to press his magical energy right up against the corruption curse to get a scope of how much it had permeated the tree. 

The moment he made contact with it however, a searing heat ripped through the bark and into his hand, making him pull away with a hiss. On the place where he'd been touching the tree just seconds ago, the bark was now charred in the shape of his handprint. Beside him, Iwa was now growling menacingly, the ocelot's fur bristling at the sign of danger. 

"It's okay, Iwa," Oikawa reassured his familiar as he took out a vial from the pouch attached to his belt and poured the vial's contents onto his hand. Almost immediately, the eucalyptus oil began soothing the burn, a cool, relieving sensation that eventually stopped Oikawa's palm from throbbing. Once he was finished, he placed the stopper back on the vial and dropped it into his pouch. "The corruption curse is getting stronger."

That was no surprise. The reason corruption curses were so dangerous was because they lived and fed off the magical energy of the being they had corrupted—which in this case, was the enchanted forest. Oikawa supposed corruption curses could be likened to a slow-acting poison, one that might not cause visible symptoms at first but would surely end up killing its host. 

He thought back to when he'd run into (Y/N) at the Iridian library, how genuinely worried she'd been when she spoke about the state of the forest. Even if Oikawa didn't already know how much (Y/N) cared about nurturing plants and horticulture, he would've realized it from the tiny furrow in her brow, the concern that was evident in the anxious pursing of her lips as she asked him where she could find books about curses. 

And despite how irritating Oikawa found her, he couldn't help but respect her for how well-intentioned her motives always were. It wasn't as if Oikawa didn't care about the corruption curse that was killing the forest—quite the opposite actually. He'd moved here in hopes of finally discovering a cure for it, but his reason for it was far less virtuous than (Y/N)'s. As a member of the Merlin's Scholars, he was expected to secure a place in some magical textbook for a daring invention or marvelous discovery, and Oikawa had reckoned that finding a reversal spell for the corruption curse would be more than adequate. 

Oikawa would be the first to admit that his reasoning was selfish, but wasn't he simply doing what was expected of him? After all, who else would willingly dedicate their lives to pursuing what appeared to be a lost cause? 

_(Y/N) would_ , his brain answered for him. _(Y/N) would do her best to help anything and any one, even if there was nothing in it for her_. At this thought, Oikawa couldn't help letting out a sharp click of his tongue. 

"She's too nice," Oikawa huffed. "To the point where it's annoying. Only fools are that nice, right Iwa?"

Iwa, who had already calmed down from the scare earlier, only looked up at Oikawa unblinkingly. His tail swished back and forth ever-so-slowly, as if he was doubting Oikawa's words.

"Whose familiar are you, mine or (Y/N)'s?" Oikawa asked childishly, but he leaned down to give Iwa a quick scratch behind the ears nevertheless. "We should head back so I can put ointment on this burn though."

Though Oikawa has fused his own magic with the eucalyptus oil he poured on his hand earlier, it was still good to take precautions against something as dangerous as a corruption curse burn. "Let's go, Iwa," Oikawa commanded, as the two of them set off down the path towards Oikawa's cottage. 

At least the curse hadn't yet stripped the forest of its beauty. The various hawthorn trees had just reached the peak of their blooming season, meaning that white petals fell down around him in a tranquil cascade, just barely caressing the fabric of his cloak in their descent. The path was littered with petals and wildflowers that had just began to blossom, and Oikawa took extra care not to accidentally crush them under his foot. A light breeze passed through the forest, ruffling the leaves of the trees around him and sending goosebumps up and down Oikawa's arms. 

Just as they were about to round the corner to Oikawa's cottage, Iwa suddenly took off in the opposite direction, swiftly bounding away from Oikawa and vanishing out of sight. 

"Iwa?" Oikawa's eyes widened at his familiar's unexpected behavior. There hadn't been anything that would've indicated why Iwa had abruptly run off and fearing the worst, Oikawa hurriedly jogged after him.

Their familial bond meant that Oikawa could sense what direction Iwa had gone, even if he couldn't see him. Oikawa followed the magical pull into a nearby grassy clearing, where Iwa stood under the shade of a lone willow tree next to...(Y/N)?

Oikawa's worry soon morphed into disdain upon seeing her. "You ditched me for this hag?" Oikawa frowned, but as he walked closer, he realized that the (h/c)-girl was fast asleep on the grass. "She's not even awake to pet you, Iwa."

Iwa let out a long purr and curled up next to her, completely disregarding Oikawa's words. 

"Ah, I see how it is," Oikawa pouted, kneeling next to Iwa and carefully stroking the ocelot's fur. He couldn't help thinking about how strange it was though, the fact that Iwa had warmed up to (Y/N) so quickly. Even with some of Oikawa's longtime friends, Iwa had always veered on the cautious end, choosing to stare them down warily from a distance. It was odd that Iwa felt comfortable enough to cuddle next to somebody that wasn't Oikawa— _especially_ since that person was Oikawa's long-time rival and local hag, (Y/N) (L/N). 

"You must've fed him," Oikawa accused her, though he purposefully kept his voice quiet enough to not wake her. "Why else would Iwa adore you so much?"

(Y/N) however, remained blissfully unaware of him. Instead, she shifted onto her side, causing some hair to fall in front of her face as she did so. The sunlight that leaked through the leaves of the willow tree illuminated her visage, giving her a warm appearance. Her lips were ever-so-slightly parted, making them look almost tantalizingly plush. Oikawa had half a mind to press his fingers to her lips, just to feel if they were as luscious as they appeared to be. 

But wait, didn't he already know firsthand how soft (Y/N)'s lips were? After all, they had kissed that night before graduation—

A surge of magic ran through him at the memory, causing his hands to emit a delicate glow. He instantly banished the thoughts of it from his mind, cursing himself for even recalling that incident. Both he and (Y/N) had made some sort of unspoken promise to never speak about it again, and he wasn't sure that (Y/N) remembered it at all. The fizzy water they had probably made her own memories of that night hazy anyway. 

_Still_. Oikawa swallowed thickly, glancing down at his hands which had now returned back to normal. Try as he might, he couldn't erase the memory of that kiss, how addictive her lips had been, how magic had coursed through every channel in his body in a way he'd never experienced before. 

_He would kiss her again if she let him_.

No, what was he thinking?! Oikawa ran a hand back through his hair agitatedly. He wanted to kiss (Y/N) again? Now that was a dangerous thought. For one, they had both made it clear during that night before graduation that the kiss would be a one time thing. Two, saying that he'd like to kiss (Y/N) again was crazy! (Y/N) was the exact opposite of his type. He didn't go for hags, even hags that were really, _really_ pretty and—Oikawa shook his head. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He just needed to head back, put ointment on his hand, and completely forget about everything that had happened just now. 

"Besides, if I stay here any longer, I'll look like a creep," Oikawa muttered to himself, standing up and wiping the loose blades of grass off of his trousers. Iwa looked so peaceful napping next to (Y/N) that Oikawa figured it was best to just allow him to sleep. The ocelot knew his way back to Oikawa's cottage anyway, so Oikawa wasn't worried about that. He glanced up at the sky and saw that the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon. It'd be night soon, and that meant it was only going to get colder. 

He glanced down at (Y/N), who was only wearing a loose blouse and shorts. _She probably fell asleep while gardening_. Oikawa pursed his lips and sighed. "Who comes out dressed so unprepared for the weather? She really must be a fool."

For Oikawa, there was only one reasonable solution. He swiftly unbuttoned his cloak and laid it over both Iwa and (Y/N). "This is just part of my charity work," he announced to an audience that was asleep and thus, could not hear him. "Don't get any ideas."

And so, Oikawa made the trip back to his cottage with his arms exposed to the chilly evening air. _It's charity work_ , he told himself, but for some reason, Oikawa was starting to doubt the truth of those words.

* * *

When (Y/N) finally awoke, the sky was completely dark, say for the sliver of light shining from the crescent moon overhead. She sat up and stretched out her arms, only for fabric to drop from her chest and onto her thighs. "Hm? What's this?"

(Y/N) picked up the mysterious fabric, examined it carefully, and realized that it was a witch's cloak. _Oikawa's_ cloak to be more specific. After all, the muted cologne coming from the fabric was unmistakable. But what was Oikawa's cloak doing...?

A pair of golden eyes blinked at her from directly in front of her. She yelped in fright but soon relaxed when she realized that it was only Iwa. "What are you doing here, huh? Shouldn't you be with that annoying owner of yours?"

Iwa didn't acknowledge her words. Rather, he stepped forward and butted (Y/N)'s hand with his head, a sign that he wanted to be petted. (Y/N) wasn't about to deny his request. She stroked the fur on his head and asked, "Did you give me this cloak?"

The ocelot made no reply. (Y/N) frowned, brain still desperately trying to unravel the situation. She'd clearly fallen asleep while inspecting the wildflowers earlier, that much was clear. But where did this cloak come from? And how did Iwa know to find her out here? Had Iwa brought her this cloak? (Y/N) knew that familiars were smarter and more powerful than the average pet, but Iwa bringing her Oikawa's cloak to use as a blanket was still hard to believe. 

Did Oikawa find her sleeping out here and give her his cloak? It was the only explanation that made sense and yet, was by far the most confusing one. Being shown kindness by her mortal enemy, high school academic rival, and annoying neighbor? Even (Y/N)'s fever dreams wouldn't have been able to come up with this one. 

But (Y/N) didn't have time to dwell on this matter. "Panini's probably waiting for me at home," (Y/N) realized. "And you should get back to Oikawa's house before he gets worried."

She directed this last sentence to Iwa, who emitted an affirmative purr like he understood what she was saying. (Y/N) stood up and folded the cloak into a careful square in her arms before setting off, Iwa trailing a few paces behind her. Would it be weird to drop off Oikawa's cloak in the morning? She didn't feel like making a detour this late at night, but on the off chance that Oikawa _hadn't_ been the person who'd given her the cloak, it'd be awkward explaining how it managed to end up in her hands. Her best hope was to just put the cloak on his doorstep and head home.

Or should she knock on his door and hand it back to him in person? (Y/N)'s mind flashed back to the last time she'd knocked on Oikawa's door, only for him to open it with wet hair, looking like he was about to attend a magazine photoshoot. _No, she definitely couldn't go through that again_.

In the end, (Y/N) ended up leaving the cloak neatly-folded on top of Oikawa's doorstep, bid goodbye to Iwa, and then set off on her merry way. She didn't have the cloak to protect herself on the journey back home, but there was an inexplicable warmth in her heart that prevented her from feeling cold anyway. 

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: it's still vic from quotev! this is an upload onto ao3 bc i like the site.


End file.
